Not So Simple
by digimichael96
Summary: One might think that since the criminal organization known as the Heartless had been taken down more than a year ago that everything would be fine, right? Not quite. A new gang of criminals are rising in power and they go by the name "The Nobodies". So, what then does any of this have to do with a singer at a local bar? Well, you'd have to ask a certain young cop with spiky hair.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey, guys. So, I'm gonna make this short. You clicked on this because you thought it might be interesting. Hopefully, I don't disappoint. I really don't wanna have to put notes at the beginning of each chapter, so I'll only do it when I think it's necessary (Ex. like at the beginning of the story). Hope you enjoy "The Da Vinci Code". Just kidding. Seriously though, the title's a work in progress. If you guys have a suggestion for me to consider, leave it in a review. Enjoy!**

**I do not own any of the characters being represented in this work of fiction. They are characters popularized by the Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy Franchises and are owned by Square Enix.**

* * *

The pub was dead. And I mean like in a coffin that's six feet under dead. There were only a few patrons here and there. Regulars, Drunks and the occasional businessman who must have stumbled in by accident after a long day. Kairi looked across the room to the bartender. He was cleaning a glass, but when he noticed her staring, he smiled a bit and gave a look of encouragement. Kairi smiled back. 'Okay,' she thought, 'Here we go.'

She stepped onto the makeshift stage set at the edge of the dining area. A couple of heads looked up and she wondered if their drunken states could even process what was happening. She approached the mic and cleared her throat, signaling for the pianist to begin playing. She did and soon enough everyone in the bar was looking at Kairi expectantly. Her cheeks flushed just slightly at all the sudden attention, but she took a deep breath and began to sing,

"L is for the way you look at me.

O is for the only one I see.

V is very, very extraordinary.

E is even more than anyone that you adore can."

It was a classic. The people in the bar began to smile at her as she lost herself in the music. She'd always loved the old crooners like Nat King Cole and Frank Sinatra, and being able to sing their music was amazing.

"Love is all that I can give to you.

Love is more than just a game for two.

Two in love can make it

Take my heart and please don't break it.

Love was made for me and you.

Love was made for me and you.

Love was made for me and you."

The song finished and she was surprised at the applause that she received. People she wasn't even sure could stand because of the state they were in were on their feet clapping. She began to blush again. She heard someone trying to get her attention to her right. It was her mother, who was still sitting at the piano, "Take a bow." Kairi nodded and did as she said.

"Kairi Leonhart, everyone!" The bartender yelled with a large smile on his face. It's funny. The smile almost made the scar on his face less scary. Almost. She took one last bow before stepping off the stage. People were still applauding her and complimenting her as she made her way to the back where her father was.

"Dad, that was amazing!" Kairi said excitedly.

"Kairi, you were amazing," he said with that same smile on his face. Her dad never smiles so this was a huge deal. She giggled a little to herself as she went backstage to go change back into her waitress uniform. She'd thrown on something nice to sing in, but it was hardly suitable for waiting tables and dealing with inebriated people. After slipping on a pair of worn blue jeans and a white tank top, she stepped back out and started taking orders.

The night quickly died down again after her performance and passed by pretty uneventfully. She did, however, get the feeling that someone was watching her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a man at the bar looking at her from time to time. Eventually, she just decided to ignore him. But it was kind of hard to ignore the piercing blue eyes and the gravity-defying, spiky, brown hair. He was making her nervous, so eventually she just made up some excuse for her father so that he would let her go home early. After slipping on a light jacket, she stepped out into the night.

The walk home from the bar wasn't a long one. In fact, they'd bought the bar because of how close it was to home. Just two blocks. But at night, anything could happen in just two blocks. She was walking past a side street when the hands grabbed her. They were strong, probing hands that ran up and down her body. She tried to scream, but suddenly there was a hand over her mouth. She looked around frantically and she saw one man in front of her and she could feel another behind her. This was bad.

The man in front had a cruel smirk on his face as he stepped towards her. "That was a beautiful song, Miss Leonhart. I only wonder if we can make you sing again." His hands were moving to take off her pants and she tried to kick him. She managed to get him in the chin and suddenly his face didn't have a smile anymore. "You bitch... Neo, restrain her." She felt the man behind her move and suddenly he was in front of her. He shoved her against the brick wall and pinned her there.

"Shadow. Can I kiss her, huh? She's so pretty..." The one called Neo asked playfully as he started leaning towards her. She was about scream when suddenly she felt the grip on her arms slacken.

"What's the big id- Oof!" Shadow grunted and Neo turned to see what was happening. Kairi looked as well and was surprised to see a man was fighting Shadow and winning. The man delivered a swift knee to his gut causing him double over. He followed with a strong uppercut to the jaw and Shadow fell flat on his back. Neo began to approach from behind.

"Watch out!" she screamed helplessly. The man thrust his elbow back into Neo's chest before turning around and delivering a hard right hook right to the face. Neo stumbled back a few steps and the man took this as an opportunity to hit him with a roundhouse kick that sent him flying into the brick wall where he collapsed. Kairi was shocked. This man had taken down both guys and they hadn't even landed a single hit on him.

"Are you okay?" the man asked concerned. He was staring at her through the darkness with piercing blue eyes. They looked familiar to her.

"I- I'm fine. Thank you," Kairi was at a loss for words, but she managed, "Who are you?"

He stepped into the light. He was a good few inches taller than her. He wore a white button down, a black tie and black dress pants. What really surprised Kairi was his hair. It was the same gravity-defying, spiky, brown hair from the bar. "My name is Sora. Sora Fair. It's a pleasure, Miss Kairi Leonhart."

* * *

Sora had escorted her back to her house even though Kairi insisted that she was okay on her own. He was worried about her. He had seen those guys eyeing her up from the bar. They even followed her out, but she seemed too distracted to notice. After the three of them left, Sora paid his tab and left as well. He didn't like the look of the situation at all. By the time he'd gotten outside he couldn't see any of them. Figuring they must have disappeared down a side street or something he started looking down alleyways and around corners.

He finally found them when the big one pinned her to the wall. He made quick work of them, but he couldn't shake the feeling of what could have happened had he been too late. She was young. She didn't need something like that in her life. Sora thought about all this on the way to Kairi's house. In fact, he was so lost in thought he didn't even notice her trying to catch his attention.

"Uh... Sora? Hello?" Kairi waved her hands frantically trying to snap Sora out of his thoughts. "Sora!"

"Huh? What?" he said confusedly.

"What's on your mind?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"What? Oh. Nothing." He looked at her and smiled, "I'm just glad your okay."

Kairi felt her cheeks flush slightly. "Oh, well... Uh... That was thanks to you, so uhm..." She quickly threw her arms around him, "Thank you!" She pulled away and walked inside before he could even respond.

He stood there for a few moments with a slight blush on his own face. "You're welcome."

* * *

"So, after you took out those thugs and walked her home, she only gave you a hug? That's weak, man," Sora's silver haired best friend finished. They laughed. Riku Masamune stood a few inches taller than him and had long, silver hair that reached his upper back. He had cobalt blue eyes and a very cool demeanor. They'd been best friends since they were kids.

"I'm glad it was only a hug. I don't know what I would have done otherwise," Sora reasoned.

"Uh... Enjoyed the hell out of it?" Riku laughed.

"You know how I feel about relationships. It just wouldn't work out."

"Who said anything about a relationship? You just gotta hit it and-"

"And what?" interjected a familiar voice. Riku's face seemed to freeze in place as a single bead of sweat worked its way down the side of his face. The voice belonged to none other than Riku's long time girlfriend, Xion Kisaragi. She was a few inches shorter than Sora making for a pretty comedic height difference between the couple. She had short, black hair that barely reached the base of her neck and stormy blue eyes.

"And... uh... Apologize right after because hitting is wrong!" Riku said confidently.

Xion simply shook her head as if to say, "Not buying it..."

Sora just laughed, "Don't worry, Xion. I'm keeping him in line.

Xion smiled, "I'm sure you are. I just came over to say goodbye since I'm leaving for my mission today."

Sora raised an eyebrow, "Mission? What mission?"

"I'm going undercover and posing as a member of the Nobodies. They already have one guy there from the TTPD, but they thought having someone else could help them get the intel that they need." The three of them all worked for the Destiny Islands Police Department, or the DIPD. Sora and Riku were not only best friends, but they were also partners in the force. The Nobodies was a gang of criminals that caused problems all over the place. They were starting to rise in power lately, too, so many departments were trying to gather information on the mysterious group.

Riku grunted, "I just don't know why they need to send you. There's plenty of people around here that I'd be much more comfortable sending off into a giant criminal organization."

Xion rolled her eyes, "Yes, but none of them have the same undercover, spy training that I do. This is what I do, Riku. I'll be fine. I promise." She stood on her tip toes and gave him a peck on the cheek earning a smile from the silver haired man.

"Fine. Just please check in as often as possible so that I know that you're okay?"

She smiled, "Of course." At that she gave Riku one more peck on the lips before excusing herself.

Sora had pretended to be very interested in his coffee while all this was playing out, but he had been eavesdropping the entire time. Once Xion cleared the room, Sora looked Riku dead in the eyes and said, "That's why I can't have a girlfriend. This job is dangerous. I'd feel awful knowing that she would be worried about me all the time. My mom already worries enough as it is."

Riku just rolled his eyes, "Whatever, dude. I just think that you're missing out on one of the more refined pleasures of life. At the very least, be friends with her. She seems like a nice chick." And he also excused himself from the break room.

Sora looked out the window at the streets of the small island. Cars were lazily drifting from place to place. It was a very quiet town for the most part. Especially after Sora and Riku had stopped the Heartless the year before. The Heartless was another gang of criminals that had gotten really dangerous in the past. They'd had complete control of entire cities and their presence forced plenty of people, Sora and Riku included, out of their homes for a time. Luckily, they had both recently completed their training and were up to the task of stopping them. It was close and there were a few casualties, but they'd brought down the leader and disbanded the group. There were still a few thugs milling around, but they weren't much of a threat anymore.

Sora was pretty sure that the thugs from the previous night had been ex-members of the organization. They certainly fit the bill: Dark Clothes, living in the shadows and the uncontrollable desire to corrupt the defenseless. He shook the thoughts from his mind. He didn't have time to worry about those guys. They weren't a threat anymore. But it didn't stop him from worrying about Kairi. Those guys could come back. Or worse they could already have her. He hadn't stayed long to make sure that Kairi was safe at home. They could have snuck in later that night.

That was it. Sora would have to go back to the bar. He just needed to make sure that she was safe. There was nothing else to it. Was there?


	2. Chapter 2

A few weeks had gone by and Sora had settled into a bit of a rhythm. Anytime he had the night off, he would find himself at "The Secret Place". He would sit at the bar and make idle conversation with bartender and slip looks at Kairi whenever he thought no one was looking. She seemed perfectly okay. No signs of physical or emotional damage from that night. Sora was starting to think that maybe he wasn't needed there after all. And yet, he kept returning.

On one particular night, Kairi had once again stepped on the stage to sing. She'd done this many times in recent weeks, singing anything from a smooth, jazzy song to a hyper, modern one. Sora had grown accustom to simply listening to her sing. It had gotten to the point where he would even let his guard down so he could properly listen to the melodies. He would close his eyes and let the music take him.

Before she started on this night, Kairi swept her gaze over the crowd and met his eyes. A look of recognition passed over her face as she maintained eye contact with the young police officer. She smiled a sweet, little smile and nodded at her accompanist. As the melody began, Sora straightened. He knew this song. He didn't think that anyone else did. And yet, when Kairi began to sing it was the song he believed it to be.

"When you walk away  
You don't hear me say,  
"Please, oh baby, don't go."  
Simple and clean is the way that you're making me feel tonight  
It's hard to let it go."

Sora was shocked. That was his song. Well, not his exactly, but it was the song that he'd grown up with. He wasn't quite sure where he'd heard it the first time, but it went back as far as he could remember. This was the song that lulled him to sleep at nights. This was the song that allowed him to stay strong even on his darkest day. This was the first song he'd learned how to play.

"Hold me  
Whatever lies beyond this morning  
Is a little later on  
Regardless of warnings the future doesn't scare me at all  
Nothing's like before."

This was impossible. In his entire life, Sora had been the only one who knew the song. When he'd learned how to play it, everyone thought that he'd written it. Sora couldn't exactly tell them that he'd heard it somewhere else and simply not remembered where, so he just went with it. Riku, his mother, no one had ever heard the song before Sora played it for them. So, how did this girl know it?

"Who are you?" he whispered.

"When you walk away  
You don't hear me say,  
"Please, oh baby, don't go."  
Simple and clean is the way that you're making me feel tonight  
It's hard to let it go.

Hold me  
Whatever lies beyond this morning  
Is a little later on  
Regardless of warnings the future doesn't scare me at all  
Nothing's like before."

The song faded and the room broke out into thunderous applause. Sora stood and applauded harder than anyone else in the room. That had always been his song, but strangely, he didn't mind sharing it with Kairi. For some reason, it felt like it was her song, too.

After taking her bows, Kairi made a beeline to the bar as she always did after she performed. However, instead of immediately speaking to her father as she usually would, she walked towards Sora instead, "Hey!"

Sora snapped to attention, "Uh, hello..." He smiled slightly. Kairi was beaming at him.

"So, how'd you like it?" She had a look of genuine curiosity on her face.

He just smiled wider, "It was amazing. You're always really good by the way."

She smiled back, a slight blush creeping onto her cheeks. She tucked a few strands of hair behind her ear, "Thanks... I'm glad you liked it. I was actually pretty surprised to see you here."

He raised an eyebrow, "Why's that?"

She shrugged, "I don't know. To be honest, after what happened that night I wasn't sure if any of it was real. It just seemed too strange, ya know? I mean. Here I was just walking home like I always do and suddenly I was attacked out of nowhere and then some random guy I didn't even know just swoops in and saves me like it's nothing. I was starting to think it was just some crazy, mixed up dream."

Sora chuckled a bit, "Well, trust me. It was very real." A very serious look passed over his face that made Kairi a little nervous, "It's dangerous out there. In fact, the only reason I'm here is because I-" he paused as if struggling for words, "I, uh... I'm here because I wanted to make sure those guys weren't here..."

Kairi raised an eyebrow. That was weird, "Well, I haven't seen any sign of them since that night, so no need to worry. You okay?"

Sora had been fiddling with his glass, "Hmm? Oh, yeah. I'm fine. Sorry. I, uh... I gotta go..." Sora suddenly stood and after putting some cash down for his drinks, he headed straight to the door. He stopped with his hand on the knob and looked over his shoulder at Kairi, "Hey... Where did you learn that song?"

Kairi was extremely puzzled by the entire situation. Sora seemed to be a little odd, "I, uh... I don't know, actually. I've always kind of known it, I guess." It was true. For as long as Kairi could remember she'd known the song. She didn't even really have a name for it. It was just her song.

Sora stared at her for a few more moments before shaking his head and leaving the pub.

* * *

Sora lay in bed for a while that night. How? How could her story be exactly the same as his? They both knew the song. They'd both always known it. And why was he so concerned for her? Did it mean that he- No. Cut it out, Sora. You know you can't. Not after what happened. You couldn't do that to her. He tossed and turned for a few hours until fatigue finally forced his eyes closed.

He awoke the next morning feeling extremely drowsy. He'd only gotten three hours of sleep. Riku must have left for work already. That jerk. How dare he just let Sora sleep in. He had work to do, too. He trudged his way to the bathroom to get ready for a long day. By the time he got out, he had a text on his phone, "ur off 2day. i talkd 2 the boss and he sed you could take the day. -Riku"

Sora groaned, "Well, what am I supposed to do now?"

Riiing!

"Hello?"

"Sora! Hi, honey... How are you feeling? I feel like we never talk anymore." The voice on the other end of the line was Sora's mother, Aerith. She was a middle-aged women who owned a flower shop on the other side of the island.

"Hey, mom... I'm fine. I know. I'm sorry." Sora couldn't make his voice sound sincere.

"Sora... What's wrong? Is everything okay?" The concern in her voice was plain as day.

Burdened with guilt at worrying his mother, Sora spoke up, "I'm fine, mom, but you know what? You're right. We haven't talked in a while. I have the day off. How about I stop by the store?"

"Oh! That would be great!" Sora couldn't see his mother, but he was sure she was smiling and that made him smile.

"Alright. I'll be there in twenty." He hung up and finished getting ready.

The drive to the flower shop wasn't terribly long. It was a small island and there wasn't much traffic in the middle of a work day. He pulled up to the small store that had a million different aromas and climbed out of his car. He looked in through the windows and saw his mother sprucing up some of the flowers in the corner. She had long brown hair that reached her mid-back, but it was currently pulled back into a ponytail. Her hair also fell in two lines on either side of her face. She had blue eyes like him and her smile was sweet and genuine.

The bell rang as Sora stepped into the shop. Aerith quickly looked up and her smile grew even larger, "Sora!" She ran up and hugged her son tightly.

Sora returned it and chuckled, "Hey, mom. How are you?"

"I'm just fine. How about you? You seemed kind of strange on the phone." Her concern was back and this time it was worse because he could see it in her eyes.

"Well, mom. I was kind of distracted by something."

"What?"

"Well, I met this girl-"

"Oooh! Is she pretty? Is she nice? Where did you meet her?" Aerith was very excitable.

"Mom... It's not like that. She was being attacked by these thugs and I stopped them."

"Oh, no..."

"Yeah. She's fine now. I went to go check on her last night. She works at this pub on the other side of the island..." He paused unsure of how to continue.

Aerith nodded, urging him to go on, "And..?"

"Well, she's a singer and, uh... Well... Do you remember that song that I used to play all the time when I was kid?"

She nodded immediately, "Of course. You loved that song so much and it was so cute. I was so surprised when I heard you play it for the first time. I mean, who knew my son could be such a talented songwriter..."

Sora shook his head, "That's just it, mom... I didn't write it." She tilted her head confused, "I don't remember where I learned it from. I've just always kind of known it, you know? Anyway... Last night, at the pub she was singing that song. She was singing my song, mom."

Aerith nodded slowly, "I see... That is strange." She paused for a few moments, "You know... You're father used to a be a bit of a musician himself..."

Sora looked up suddenly. Oh, no...

"He played the guitar. Of course you know that. He was the one that taught you. But before he got involved in police work, he used to play that guitar all the time... I'd never heard that song before you played it for me, but maybe he knew it, too, and just never played it for me."

Sora was very tense as he watched his mother. She seemed okay, but Sora knew better than to believe that.

"It really is a wonderful song..."

"Mom?"

"Hmm?"

"Are you okay..?"

Aerith met her son's eyes, "You look so much like him. His hair was a mess all the time, too. And he was so brave." Tears started to build in her eyes, so Sora quickly wrapped his arms around her.

"It's okay, mom... It's okay." Sora rubbed her back soothingly as she cried quietly. Ten years and she still broke down anytime the topic of his father came up... He'd hoped that she would have been okay by now. Sora's father, Zack, had died ten years previously on the job. He'd been trying to track down someone. No one really knew who it was, but Zack seemed pretty set on finding him. Eventually, he was forced to give up because his partner had been seriously injured. Zack died defending his partner.

The memory still brought pain to both of them, but mostly to his mother. Sora had numbed himself to it over time. Eventually, Aerith calmed down and smiled at Sora, "Thank you, Sora. I'm sorry about that..."

He smiled back, "It's okay, mom. I understand."

"Well, enough of my ramblings about your father. This girl, what's her name?"

Sora was slightly taken aback. He hadn't expected them to return to their original conversation, "Uh... Her name is Kairi. Kairi Leonhart."

"Oooh... Kairi is a pretty name. And you say she's a singer? Is she good?"

"She's amazing... Her voice is like nothing I've ever heard before," Sora said dreamily.

Aerith smiled knowingly, "Well, she sounds like a lovely girl. I wouldn't mind meeting her one day."

Sora snapped back into reality, "Mom... I told you, it's not like that."

Aerith raised her hands in surrender, "I'm sorry. But, you know... It couldn't hurt to befriend the young lady."

"That's what Riku said..." Sora mumbled.

"Well, Riku has always been like a son to me... Certainly the smartest son I could ask for." Aerith began to busy herself with the flowers again.

"Hey, wait... What? I _am_ your son. What's that supposed to mean?" Sora looked at his mother accusingly.

"Oh, nothing... Now, run along. No need to waste any more of your precious time an old lady like me."

Sora rolled his eyes, "You're beautiful, mom." He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and made for the door. "See ya!"

The drive home was uneventful. Sora was simply left alone with his thoughts. However, after talking to his mother, Sora felt a lot better about the situation. Maybe he could be friends with Kairi. It's not like they were in love with each other. Nothing could possibly go wrong.


	3. Chapter 3

It was another slow day and Kairi was bored out of her mind. With little to no customers, her father had offered to let her go home early and catch up on her studies. Kairi was about to take him up on just that when a familiar face entered the pub.

The young brunette made his way up to the bar and was about to order a drink when he felt himself get pulled away. He tore his gaze from the confused looking bartender to meet the bluish-purple eyes of a certain waitress/singer. He was dragged to a table, "Sit." He did as he was told and she did the same. She was sitting across from him staring at him intently and he was about to question the woman when she continued to speak, "Why were you acting so weird last night?"

Sora had been expecting as much. "I was late for a work related... thing," He lied.

She raised an eyebrow skeptically, "A work related thing..?"

He nodded confidently, "Oh, yeah. Really important, uh, thing... I'd almost forgotten about it, so I was in a bit of a hurry."

"What kind of thing?"

"What kind?"

"Yes, what kind?"

"You know, the important kind..."

"Why was it so important?"

"That's classified."

"Classified?"

"Yes, classified."

"So, you're telling me that you sat here drinking and listening to me sing, and right when I come over to say 'hello' and give you a formal thank you for saving me the other night, you suddenly remembered a very important, classified... thing..."

Sora paused, "Yes?"

She shrugged, "Okay."

He felt his shoulders relax, "Right... Anyway, I have no things today, so I thought I'd swing by."

"Oh, well, I was actually about to leave."

"Oh?" Sora asked trying to hide his disappointment.

"Yeah. I gotta go."

She stood and was about to walk away when Sora asked, "What are you going to do, if you don't mind me asking..?"

She smirked, "A thing."

Sora sighed, "Alright. I'll tell you what. I'll tell you the real reason why I left last night, if you'll stay and have a couple drinks with me."

Kairi looked at him for a moment pondering whether or not she should. She really needed to study, but she was also very curious about his behavior. She sat back down, "Continue..."

Sora smiled. He called over a waitress. She was a very animated woman who looked a few years older than him. She had short black hair and a wide grin on her face. She had shining brown eyes that took in every detail, "Hiya! What can I get you two?"

Kairi smiled knowingly, "Hey, Yuffie. I'll just have my usual..." She glanced at Sora who was looking over the menu, "Make that two."

"Okay!" Yuffie left to go put the orders in, leaving the two of them alone again.

"What's the usual..?" Sora asked cautiously.

Kairi smiled, "It's a secret. I'm sure you'll love it though." She winked.

He raised an eyebrow, "Alright then... Well, anyway, the reason I left last night is because I was worried about something."

She tilted her head confusedly, "About what?"

"Well, I was worried I might have given off a bad impression," he reasoned.

"What do you mean?"

"I was worried that, you know. Here I was, this guy who swooped in and took care of those guys, and I walked you home and I came to see you every day for the next few weeks..."

"You came to see me?"

Sora stopped. Kairi seemed surprised. "Yeah... Didn't you see me?"

"Not until last night, no." It got very awkward for a time, until Kairi finally broke it, "So, you were worried about what..? That I would-"

"That you would think I was like in love with you or something," he finished.

She blushed, "I was gonna say that you were stalking me..." She paused as Sora's mouth hung open awkwardly, "Are you-"

"No. No, of course not. We barely know each other," he blurted, "I mean... It wouldn't matter anyway. I was worried that you would think I was trying to hit on you or something. I just wanted to let you know that I wasn't. I'm not. I'm not looking for a relationship is what I'm saying."

"Oh..." Kairi looked at the table. She was a little disappointed. He was cute. And he had come out of nowhere and saved her that night. He was like her knight in shining armor or something... Stop it, Kairi... Don't be stupid. It's not like that.

Sora raised an eyebrow, "Are you okay?"

Kairi shook away her thoughts and smiled, "Of course. I, uh, was just trying to wrap my head around everything. Anyway, no need to worry. I didn't think you were hitting on me," Even though she kind of did, "And we can be friends, right?"

Sora smiled, too, "Yeah. I'd like that."

* * *

And so they were. Whenever they were free, they would meet at the pub and hangout. They went to cafes and the movies and even went to the beach sometimes to just talk. It might have seemed a little strange, but they were comfortable with each other.

"Alright, so... Besides your parents, do you have any family?" Sora asked as they walked along the sand. They'd been doing this for a while. One would ask a random question about the other and the other would be forced to answer. It was like truth or dare minus the dare.

"I have a sister. Her name is Naminé and she lives in Twilight Town. She's an artist and she and I are really close. Or we used to be anyway," Kairi answered.

"Why do you say 'used to'?"

"Well, ever since she moved, we haven't talked as much. I haven't even heard from her in little over a month.

"That sucks..." Sora looked at his feet as they walked, unsure of what to say.

"But, hey, what about you? I know nothing about your family," Kairi switched the focus with a smile.

Sora was grateful and he answered, "Well, really it's just my mom and me. I mean, my friend Riku and I have been friends for as long as I can remember, so he's basically my brother. Other than that, though, there's no one." Kairi looked at him for a few moments unsure of whether or not to ask the question that was on her mind, but before she could decide, Sora continued, "My dad died years ago..."

Kairi was surprised. She hadn't expected him to say anything about it on his own. She figured, at the very least, his dad had walked out on them or something. She didn't realize that he had died. "Oh, Sora, I'm so sorry."

He shook his head with a reassuring smile, "It's okay. It was so long ago that I think that I've kind of come to terms with it, ya know?" She nodded. Now, she wasn't sure what to say. Thankfully, Sora paid her the same courtesy that she had and changed the subject, "So, you sing and you wait tables, but is there more to you, Miss Leonhart? Are you actually a secret agent sent to kill me?" he joked.

She chuckled lightly, "No. I'm actually studying to be a doctor. I'm working at my parents' pub to help pay for medical school and living with them to save money. Classes are over for the summer though. Unfortunately, I have to keep up with my studies if I don't want to flunk out."

Sora was surprised, "Wow... A doctor. That's pretty impressive."

Kairi smiled, "I'm impressive? I'm just a med student. You're a cop. You run around beating up bad guys and saving people."

He chuckled, "You may be a little biased."

She scoffed, "What? Just because I happen to be one of the people that you saved, my opinion doesn't matter?"

He shrugged, "Well, I mean, sure, sometimes I get to run in and save the day, but most of the time I'm a step or two behind the criminals and innocent people get hurt. You're gonna be a doctor. You're gonna save lives all the time with your medicine and whatnot."

"Do you even know how medicine works? First of all, we have to diagnose. We have to figure out what's wrong with a patient before we do anything. Meanwhile, they may be dying. If we're lucky, we might be able to figure out what's wrong with them and then we have to go through a million different procedures to see if we can cure them. And some diseases are still incurable so-"

Sora stopped her by placing his hand over her mouth. "I get it. See, that's exactly my point. You guys have to do all kinds of stuff, and yeah, I have to do a lot of things, too. Just don't downplay yourself so much, alright?" He smiled.

Kairi swatted his hand away and smiled back, "Fine. Fair enough. Just as long as you know I will always be grateful that you're one of the people keeping me safe."

Sora blushed slightly at that, "I'll try my best."

They fell into comfortable silence after that as they watched the waves. The sun was beginning to set and the sky was turning a dull pink color. Kairi sighed, "Well, it's getting kind of late. I should probably be heading home."

Sora grabbed her wrist before she could walk away. She looked at him confused, "Why don't you, uh, stick around for the sunset?" He looked at her with pleading eyes before he let go and plopped himself down on the sand, "Come on..." He whined as he patted the place next to him.

Kairi rolled her eyes and sat down, "Fine, but no hand holding, no shoulder leaning and no romantic spurts about beauty and all that crap."

Sora placed his hand over his heart in mock pain, "But Kairi... You're beauty can only be matched by that of sun and stars and your hair is comparable to an endless sunset!" He recited.

She giggled, "Alright, Romeo." They both laughed and watched the sunset.

* * *

"WEAK!" Riku laughed, "I mean, come on! You and this girl spend all of your free time together... You go to the movies, eat out together, you watched a fucking sunset together..."

Sora rolled his eyes, "Look, dude. I know it seems weird. But she and I are cool with just being friends. She understands that I don't want a relationship right now and I'm happy just spending time with her."

Riku stopped laughing and looked at him seriously, "You like her..."

"What?" Sora looked at him incredulously.

"You. Like. Her."

"No, I don't," he defended.

"How long have we known each other..?"

He sighed, "Twenty-thr-"

"Twenty-three years... And when I say that you are falling for this girl, I mean that you are 'falling off a hundred foot cliff' falling for her. You like her. And I'm willing to bet that she likes you, too."

Sora shook his head, "No. I don't. She doesn't. No one likes anyone. There is no romantic feelings involved at all."

Riku was silent for a few seconds and Sora thought he had won. Then, "Yeah. You totally like her."

"UGH!" Sora groaned, "Look. Even if I did, which I'm not saying I do, but if I did, I told you already. I can't do a relationship."

"What are you so afraid of?"

"Of dying, okay?" Sora shouted suddenly.

Riku had a look of surprise. He wasn't expecting that, "What are you talking about..?"

Sora sighed, "Look... Ever since my dad..." He paused, "died... My mom has never been the same. She can't talk about him without bawling her eyes out. She's lost that spark that made her who she was before... If me and Kairi... You know, if we got together, and something happened to me... I just couldn't do that to her."

"Sora..." Riku started.

"No. You know what. I, uh... I gotta go." Sora suddenly stood from the table in the break room and made for the exit. Riku grabbed his arm to stop him, "Let me go."

"Sora, listen to me. I understand that life has been rough ever since your dad died. Hell... My dad's been dead for twice as long, but you don't see me breaking things off with Xion. You have to have a little faith in yourself. And... You have to have faith in her... Sure. Your mom couldn't really handle what happened to your dad, but Kairi is strong. She has friends and family that would take care of her." Riku tried reasoning.

Sora sighed, "Riku... I know. I know what I should do... I just can't, okay? I just... I need to be alone for a little while." At that Riku released him and he left. Riku fell back into the chair he'd been sitting in.

"This sucks..."


	4. Chapter 4

Riku didn't know what he was talking about... Sure, he was in a pretty similar situation and still had a girlfriend, but that was different. They were both officers... They both knew the dangers... Kairi would have no idea what she was getting herself into. And besides, Sora's mother wasn't weak. She was one of the of strongest people that Sora ever knew and it was still hard. Something like that would be hard on anyone.

Sora had been struggling with himself for the past hour. Even after talking to his mother and all the time he'd spent with Kairi herself, he just couldn't shake the fact that he was being unfair to her. Maybe he should just stop hanging out with her. He should distance himself like he did with everyone else. No... He couldn't do that either... Ugh... Why was this so hard?

Riiing!

"Leave me alone..." Sora groaned at the inanimate object.

Riiing!

"Can't you see I'm having a crisis here?"

RIIING!

"Fine!" Sora swiped the phone off his bedside table, "Hello?"

"Hey, dude. Just got a call from the boss. We're on patrol tonight. Get your ass down here."

Sora let out an irritated gurgling sound that Riku thankfully let slide, "Fine... I'll be there in ten..."

* * *

Sora arrived at the station and Riku hopped in the passenger seat as soon as he pulled up. "Hey!" he said enthusiastically.

Sora didn't return the greeting, "Why are we on patrol again? We did patrol a few days ago."

Riku shrugged, "Well, if we're being honest here, I actually took the shift from the guys who were actually supposed to do it tonight."

"What? Why would you do that?" Sora growled.

"Now, now... That's not how this works. Since I confessed something, now it's your turn... How do you really feel about Kairi?" Riku smirked ignoring his friend's aggravation.

"Riku..." Sora warned.

"Oh, come on, Sora... You can't blame me for wanting to know. And you certainly can't expect me to be scared of you. Out with it, princess," Riku teased.

Sora shot daggers at him, but it seemed Riku wasn't going to let up about it and they were stuck together. "Alright, fine. I like her. So, what? I'm supposed to profess my feelings to her with roses and, and then we drive off into the sunset. We kiss under the mistletoe on Christmas and she teases me because I'm wearing an ugly sweater... I shoot back that my mother made it for me and she just laughs. Years go by and we're married with children. She waits until late at night for me to come home and guess what? I don't. One day, I just don't come home. Then, what happens?"

Riku just stared at him with an unwavering expression of apparent apathy. "You know if you don't stop bitching about dying, I'm gonna have to hit you."

Sora just stared incredulously at him, "What are you-"

Riku raised his hand, "I'm serious. If I hear you say one more word that even sounds like 'dead', I'm gonna hurt you."

Sora sighed. He hated it when Riku did that. Sora was allowed to be emotional about some things, right? And this was death-

"Don't even think it," Riku scolded.

"I wasn't-"

"You were. Eyes on the road, stupid." Sora glued his eyes to the road as his anger continued to build. Stupid Riku. Stupid Emotions. Stupid guys hiding in the alley nearby. Wait, what?

"Suspicious activity on my right," Sora began to pull over as Riku took notice of the two men.

"They don't look too suspicious, why are you-"

"I know them," Sora simply said as he climbed out of the car.

"You what?" Riku followed.

Sora put his finger to his lips indicating that they should quiet down, "Those are the guys that attacked Kairi that night," he whispered.

Riku nodded his understanding, "Let's get them."

They each made sure their pistols were loaded before making there way into the alley. They couldn't have the guns out unprovoked, but they were ready to take them out if necessary. The two men noticed the officers approaching and faced them confidently, "What do you want?"

Riku stepped forward and flashed his badge, "DIPD. What's going on here?"

The shorter of the two stepped forward, "We didn't do nothing."

Sora stepped up, "Really? Because I seem to recall a particular case of assault and attempted rape a few weeks ago."

A look of recognition passed over their faces as the two men looked at Sora. The bigger one leaned down and whispered in a not-so-quiet voice, "That's the guy that beat the crap out of us, Shadow. What do we do?"

"Shut up," the other one, supposedly called Shadow responded. He faced Riku and Sora again, "I have no idea what you're talking about, officer."

Sora was starting to get angry again, "We have eye witness accounts of everything. You can either come quietly or-"

"RUN!" the big one said before turning tail and running down the alley.

"Neo, you idiot!" Shadow yelled over his shoulder.

"I got him," Riku tore past Shadow and followed Neo down the alleyway.

Sora raised an eyebrow to Shadow, "So, are you gonna get in the car, or are you gonna follow your friend's lead?"

Shadow seemed to be struggling with his answer as he heard Neo being restrained not too far away. His eyes glanced toward the gun at Sora's hip, "I don't wanna do anything with that gun there. It's making me nervous."

Sora rolled his eyes, "You want me to get rid of my gun?"

Shadow countered, "You've made it very obvious you can handle me without it, so what's the harm?"

Sora didn't want to get into all the examples of criminals pulling concealed weapons on officers when they let their guard down, so he simply said, "I'm not stupid. You probably have something on you."

Shadow lifted up his hands and turned out his pockets. He even made a point to lift his jacket and pull up his sleeves, "I got nothing. See? I just don't like the gun."

Sora sighed, "Fine. If it will make you feel better. I'm gonna take out my gun," he lifted it out of its holster, Shadow's eyes following it the entire way, "And I'm gonna set it right here where it can't hurt anyone." He placed it on a nearby dumpster a good distance away from where both of them were standing. "Now, will you come?"

Shadow made a grab for the gun. He hadn't even made it halfway when he felt the barrel of pistol against his head, "Nice try." Riku was standing right behind him with a smug look on his face.

* * *

And just like that, both criminals were in the backseat. Neo was knocked out. Riku said that he felt that it was necessary because Neo got car sick _very_ easily. Sora didn't question it. "So, were you really that stupid? You actually gave in to the demands of a criminal?" Riku quesioned.

Sora laughed, "I knew you were there. I saw you standing behind him. I just thought that I'd give him a chance to redeem himself. The endeavor didn't go over well, as you can see."

Riku just rolled his eyes, "Whatever. It was still stupid."

A couple of minutes passed in silence when Sora spoke up, "My mom's not weak."

Riku raised an eyebrow, "What?"

"Earlier... You said how strong Kairi was and how she would be fine if something bad happened. You implied that my mom was weak..." Sora explained.

"Sora..." Riku warned.

"Just listen. I know that's not what you meant and I know you told me not to talk about this anymore, but think about this. If anything happened to Xion, how would you feel?"

"Sora-"

"How would you _feel_?" Sora repeated.

Riku sighed, "I don't know. Honest to God, I have no idea what I would do if something happened to her..."

Sora chanced a look at Riku. His expression had changed. He no longer had the look of some who was scolding. He looked genuinely worried, "Riku... She's gonna be fine."

"How can you say that?" Riku snapped, "When you're so worried about something happening to you that you won't even date some girl that you obviously like and who obviously likes you back. How can you possibly tell me that she's gonna be fine when she's in the middle of it all. She's surrounded by Nobodies, man. And the only other guy out there on our side is some jerk who's probably trying to get in her pants."

"What are you talking about?" Sora was worried now. Not about Xion, but about Riku. He'd never seen him like this.

"The guy that she's partnered up with for this mission. He's some womanizing jerk," Riku spat.

"Who is it?"

"Some guy named Roxas..." Sora started laughing, "What? What's so funny?" Riku growled.

Sora shook his head, "Dude... Roxas is Cloud's son. I've known him since we were kids. He is _not_ a womanizer. He's actually a really nice, respectful guy." Cloud Strife was the head of the police department in Destiny Islands. He and Sora's father were partners back in the day. In fact, Cloud has Zack to thank for his life.

"Hmph... Doesn't mean I have to like him..." Riku was staring out the window avoiding eye contact.

"Are you seriously this jealous?" Sora questioned.

"So what if I am? I have a right to be," Riku argued.

"Riku... Xion is a great girl and I'm sure that most any guy would want her, but she's _your_ girl. She knows it. You know it. Just about everyone else does, too. Not only would she not cheat on you in a million years, no guy would be stupid enough to try anything while knowing full well you would kill them for just thinking about it." Riku grunted, "Relax, man... You have nothing to worry about."

Riku grunted again, "Whatever..."

Sora chuckled, "The great Riku Masamune... Jealous..."

"You know I'm worried about her safety, too."

Sora nodded, "I know, man. Just trust me... Nothing is going to happen to her."

"I hope not, Sora... I hope not."

* * *

The next day, Sora had decided that he could remain friends with Kairi as long as he made sure it stayed that way. Just friends. Riku may have been right about him liking her, but the way he had acted about Xion had only reinforced Sora's feelings about all of it. He couldn't do that to Kairi. It would just be unfair.

* * *

This is so unfair... Kairi was lying in bed thinking about the past few weeks and there was one thing, or one person rather, that seemed to dominate her thoughts. A young officer by the name of Sora Fair. She just didn't get it. They went to movies together. They went out to eat together. They'd watched a sunset together for crying out loud. Why didn't he want to be with her? Was there something wrong with her? Did she come come on too strong? Was he gay?

She shook the thoughts from her head. Sora had made it perfectly clear that he just didn't want a relationship. It was as simple as that. So, why couldn't she shake the feeling that he liked her. The way he looked at her as they walked along the beach. He just looked so... He looked... Oh, sue me, he looked adorable. That goofy smile of his. That way he seems to get lost in his thoughts one minute and then he goes and does something without thinking in the next. He was ridiculous.

No. She would not be one of those girls who wondered day in and day out why some guy hadn't asked her out. That was not her. That would never be her. She had other things to worry about. Like school and money. She didn't have time for stupid guys with their stupid, adorable smiles. "Ugh..." She groaned.

That's it. She was gonna do what she always did when she was confused or upset. She was gonna sing her song. She went down into the foyer and sat at the piano. She wasn't very good. Not as good as her mother at least, but she knew how to play her song. She'd figured out the notes a long time ago. When she first started playing it, her parents were surprised. They'd asked if she wrote it. Kairi would just shake her head and continue playing. She hadn't written it. She just couldn't remember where she heard it.

Kairi rested her fingers on the keys and took a shallow breath. She pressed down and let the notes resonate as they filled the room. She started playing the melody,

"You're giving me too many things  
Lately, you're all I need.  
You smiled at me and said,

"Don't get me wrong, I love you,  
But does that mean I have to meet your father?"  
When we are older you'll understand  
What I meant when I said,  
"No, I don't think life is quite that simple"

"Kairi!"

The notes came to a sudden halt as Kairi whipped around to the source of the sound, "Yeah?"

"Can you come here? I need help with the groceries," her mothers voice called from the other room.

"Sure, mom. I'll be right there." She made her way into the kitchen where her mother had set down the bags filled with food and other products. Kairi's mother, Rinoa, smiled at her from the cabinet where she had started putting the canned foods she purchased. Rinoa Leonhart had warm brown eyes and brown hair that reached her upper back. She looked like she would have been very pretty when she was young. Not to say that she wasn't pretty now, she just looked very mature. She had an air of elegance to her that Kairi couldn't hope to match.

They were halfway done putting everything away when Rinoa spoke up, "So, Kairi, where have you been sneaking off to all the time lately? Do you not like us anymore or something?"

Kairi laughed a little, "You know I love you guys, mom. I've just made a new friend recently and we've been spending time together."

Rinoa raised her eyebrow, "A friend? What kind of friend?"

Kairi rolled her eyes, but she couldn't conceal the slight blush that was on her cheeks, "He's just a friend, mom. He's nice."

Rinoa smiled, "Mhm... I'm sure he's very nice, dear. As long as you're happy, I'm happy."

"Good," Kairi said.

"Good," Rinoa responded.

There was a brief pause as they continued putting things away.

"Alright, fine... I might like him a little bit," Kairi admitted.

Rinoa simply laughed, "It's okay, dear. Your father wasn't very easily persuaded either. He came around eventually though. And I'm sure this friend of yours will, too."

Kairi smiled at the thought, "I'm not worried..." She wasn't. There was nothing to be worried about. She and Sora were friends. If that's all they would ever be. That was completely fine. Kairi wasn't worried in the slightest.


	5. Chapter 5

Sora was on his way to The Secret Place. Work had been pretty hectic for the past couple days with interrogations of the two thugs and recent activity by the Nobodies, but they'd calmed down for now and Sora wanted to take a well deserved break. So, for his lunch break he decided to go to his new favorite pub.

He entered the establishment and was met by the dark, but strangely cozy environment. He was surprised more people didn't eat at the pub considering it had good food, good workers and excellent entertainment at night. Okay, so he may be a little biased about that last bit, but he the food and the atmosphere really was nice. He'd have to recommend the place to his friends at work. It was a shame though. It almost felt like the little place was Sora's own personal gem. It was his secret place so to speak.

In any case, Sora quickly found a table near the window looking out at the sidewalks and streets of the little island. In the distance, he could just barely see the ocean glittering in the sunlight. He allowed himself to get lost in the natural beauty his home had to offer, "And what can I get you today, sir?"

Sora laughed, "Sir? Since when have you called me-" He stopped upon making eye contact with his server. It was not the auburn haired beauty that he had expected. It was an older woman with long brown hair and a sweet smile. "Sorry. I, uh, thought you were somebody else."

Just when the woman was about to respond, Kairi appeared over her shoulder, "Oh, sorry, mom. I can take this table." Sora smiled slightly to himself at her presence.

Kairi's mother raised an eyebrow, "Are you sure? I mean. Weren't you on break?"

"Uh... Yeah. I was, but, uh... Now, I'm not."

"You went on break two minutes ago. Did you even eat?"

"I'll eat later, okay? I'm just not hungry right now..."

The older woman seemed like she was gonna let it go and move on, but then a sudden thought occurred to her. She smiled deviously, "This is the boy, isn't it?"

Kairi's eyes widened, "What? Who? Him? The boy? What boy?"

Sora began to catch on and decided to play along, "Oh, there's a boy, is there? What's he like?"

Kairi shot him a look that said, 'What do you think you're doing?' Sora just smiled cheekily.

Kairi's mother didn't seem to notice and went on, "Oh. It's just this boy that she's been talking about these past couple days. Apparently they've been spending a lot of time together and she said that she li-"

Kairi stepped forward, "Okay, mom! Well, like I said, I can take care of this table. I think I hear dad calling you. Bye!" Her mother just laughed and shook her head before walking away.

Sora smirked up at Kairi, "So, you've been talking about me?"

Kairi's cheeks flushed red, "Shut up."

"What kind of stuff have you said?"

"Shut up..."

"And what was she about to say before you-"

"Shut up!" Kairi screamed while she beat Sora with his own menu. Meanwhile, he just laughed maniacally. When they both calmed down, she crossed her arms, "What are you even doing here?"

He feigned offense, "I am but simply attending a kind establishment on my lunch break. Or would you rather not take my business?"

She narrowed her eyes, "Let me think about it."

He just chuckled, "Oh, come on, Kairi. I'm hungry. I promise no more teasing."

She raised an eyebrow, "None at all."

"Okay. Maybe a little." She started smacking him again, "Ow! Okay. No more. None at all. I swear!"

Kairi smiled triumphantly, "Good. Now, what can I get for you?"

Sora smirked, "You know, your mom called me 'sir'." Smack. "Ow!"

* * *

After Sora had finished his lunch, he and Kairi made plans to hangout after they both finished working and then he went back to work. The rest of the day seemed to pass so slowly as Sora eagerly looked forward to the end of the day when he could see Kairi again.

"What's with the smile, weirdo?" Riku was leaning against the door frame of Sora's office. They both had been promoted to higher levels after the Heartless fiasco the year before and one of the perks was that they both had their own personal offices. They weren't spacious or luxurious, but it was nice to have.

"What smile?" Sora hadn't noticed that he'd had a fairly large, goofy smile on his face.

Riku smirked knowingly, "You were thinking about your next little date with Kairi, weren't you?"

Sora rolled his eyes, "First of all, it's not a date. We're just hanging out. Second of all, how do you know I wasn't smiling because I love my job?"

Riku chuckled, "Dude, you can tell yourself whatever you want, but here's the deal. You like her, she likes you, and I'll be damned if you let this slip through your fingers. You seem to think that you're protecting her by not giving her a chance, but maybe you should give her say in it instead of making the decision for her?"

"Again with the life lessons, Riku?" Sora had grown tired of Riku's attempts at convincing him to go out with Kairi.

"What can I say? I'm one wise dude." They both chuckled a little, "But I'm serious, Sora. She's a great girl, and she makes you happy. Maybe you should consider what's best for both of you before making this decision."

At that, Riku left, and Sora was alone with his thoughts once again. Was Riku right? It's true. Kairi did make him happy and she was really great. She was smart, funny, talented, beautiful and she and Sora had a connection like nothing Sora had ever felt before. Maybe it was wrong of him to deny them both the opportunity to be happy with one another. Maybe...

* * *

Kairi stood outside The Secret Place and waited for Sora. Her shift had ended about a half hour ago and Sora supposedly got off around the same time. The sun had long since set and Kairi was alone in the dark. Where was he? She stood there for another ten minutes, and just when she was about to go back inside, she saw a pair of headlights come around the corner. The car pulled up and in the driver's seat was none other than the spiky haired man himself.

"Took you long enough," she teased with a smile, "What? Did you fall asleep on the job, you lazy bum?"

Sora laughed as Kairi climbed in the passenger seat. "No. I had to secure the reservations."

Kairi quirked an eyebrow, "Reservations?"

Sora smiled, "Yeah. I thought we'd do something nice tonight."

The drive was nice and though sometimes there were segments of silence, it wasn't awkward. The only issue was that Kairi had no idea where they were going, or why Sora had decided to take her out to dinner. Was it a date? Did Sora finally change his mind? Was he going to confess his undying love for her? Woah... Slow down, Kairi. But seriously, what was going on? It all seemed so odd. In the past they would just do whatever. They'd never had definite plans before, but now it seemed that they did, and only half the people in the car knew what they consisted of.

During one of the longer periods of silence Kairi couldn't take it anymore, "Okay. Where are we going? What are we doing? What's going on?"

Sora just chuckled, "Relax. We're here." The car pulled to a stop in a parking lot outside of a nice looking restaurant. Kairi's mouth hung open as they approached the building. She could definitely see why Sora would have to make reservations, but she would think with a place like this, they would have to made months in advance.

"What is this place?" Kairi asked once they entered. The inside was even fancier than the outside. There were beautiful flowers and fine works of art all around. The smell of delicious food wafted through the air and Kairi almost fainted at the scent because of how good it smelled.

"It's called 'L'albero della Paopu', or 'The Paopu Tree'. It's one of the highest rated restaurants in the Destiny Islands. My mom supplies them with fresh flowers to assist in the overall ambiance, so I was able to pull some strings to get us a table for two for tonight." He smiled at her again and Kairi could have just melted.

"B-But... This place is so nice. And I... I'm so under dressed. I should be in a ballgown or, or a powdered wig, or-"

Sora shook his head, "You look great. Now, come on." Kairi tried to hide her blush. If Sora was trying to win her over tonight, he'd already done it. But she still couldn't figure out what was going on. Why had Sora suddenly decided to take her out to one of the most expensive restaurants in town? Part of her hoped it was because he really did like her, but the other part knew that he refused to be in a relationship.

Before she knew it, Kairi was sitting at a table overlooking the entire island. They were seated next to a window and the restaurant was located on a large hill on the edge of the city. She could see everything and it was absolutely beautiful. The waiter came around to get their drink orders and once he was gone, Kairi looked Sora dead in the eyes, "What's going on?"

Sora just laughed and smiled again, "Can't we just enjoy ourselves?"

"I can't until I know what's happening. This is insane, Sora. I mean. First, you come out of nowhere and save my life. Then, you unintentionally stalk me for the next few weeks. After that, you tell me you don't want a relationship and that we should just be friends, and now, here you are smiling and laughing and taking me to really expensive restaurants and I just don't know what to think," Kairi finished with a huff.

Sora smiled, "Okay. I'm sorry. I guess I've been sending some mixed signals," he chuckled a little bit to himself. Then, he became very serious, "Kairi... I've been struggling with something since the moment I met you. And I just don't know what to do about it. I keep going back and forth and Riku and my mom keep telling me what to think and I just get so confused." He took a deep breath, "Here's the deal. I-"

Riiing!

It was Sora's cellphone. They both laughed lightly and Kairi smiled, "Go ahead. Whatever you were about to say can wait."

Sora nodded gratefully and stepped away from the table to take the call. He looked at the caller ID: Riku. He picked up the phone, "What's the deal, man? I'm kind of busy right now."

"Sora... I-I... She..." Riku's voiced sounded hoarse and it almost sounded like he'd been crying.

Suddenly, Sora straightened as he sensed the urgency of the call, "Riku, what's wrong? What happened?"

There was a pause and then Riku said something Sora never expected, "Xion's been shot."

* * *

**A/N:Ugh... I am not a fan of this chapter one bit... I really wanted to get a chapter out today, but I was tired, then I was busy, then I just couldn't find the right words. I must have rewritten each segment four or five times. I just hope you all don't hate me for this. I promise the next few chapters should be much better. I tried to include some humor in this chapter because unfortunately, there's not gonna be much in the next few. I was thinking about changing the genre to Drama/Romance because of all the yelling and whatnot. Anyway, I just couldn't post this in good conscience without apologizing for being off my game this chapter. I hope you can all forgive me and may I remind you that I desperately need reviews. I have one reviewer as of now, who I greatly appreciate, but it couldn't hurt to get more feedback, so please, please, please review. It doesn't have to be positive. I welcome negative feedback as well. Anything to make this story great. Thanks guys so much for your support thus far. See ya!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hey, guys. I know I said that I wouldn't be doing a lot of notes, but I promise this should be last one for a while. I just wanted to let you guys know that I won't be updating as frequently for the next few days. I've tried to update once, or even twice on occasion per day, but I won't be able to keep that schedule for at least this week. I will still be updating frequently, but not as much as recently so for that I apologize. In other news, I got more reviewers! Thank you guys so much for that. The feedback I got is greatly appreciated, but you know what? I'm feeling greedy. If just a few more people could drop a review for me, I will make the next chapter extra long for you. Take this bribe... Take it... You know you want to... Anyway, on with the chapter. It's a bit of a short one compared to my others, so I apologize, but a lot of stuff happens, so I hope that kind of makes up for it. Enjoy!**

* * *

The room seemed to fall silent around Sora. The room that had been filled with a million little conversations was nonexistent. Sora himself was at a loss for words. After what seemed like hours, he asked the question whose answer terrified him, "Is she..?"

"She's alive." Sora let out a breath of relief. "But she's not doing so well. She was shot in the back and her spinal chord has been severely damaged. The doctors are doing everything they can, but-"

"She'll be fine," Sora said confidently, "She's strong. She'll pull through this."

There was a beat of silence, "That's what you said last time." The calmness in Riku's voice scared Sora. Normally, Riku while a very stoic person had a hint of emotion in his voice, but now, his voice was almost mechanical. He seemed devoid of emotion entirely.

"Where are you? I wanna see her," Sora asked in an attempt to divert Riku's attention.

"We're at the Twilight Town Emergency Hospital," Riku said in that deadly calm tone.

"Got it. I'll be there as soon as I can."

Sora was about to hang up when he heard Riku's voice, "Sora?"

"Yeah?"

Riku's voice had the slightest bit of sadness now, "Please hurry..."

"You got it, buddy." He hung up and returned to his table, "Kairi, I-"

"I have to go," she interrupted. Sora raised an eyebrow. "I'm sorry. Something came up and I need to go."

Sora just nodded. He was about to say the same thing after all, "Okay... It's fine. Is everything okay?"

Kairi looked up at him and she had a very deep look of worry that completely matched how Sora felt, "No. A friend of mine. Her sister is hurt really badly."

Sora looked at her confusedly for a few seconds, "Which friend?"

"Yuffie. The other waitress at The Secret Place. I'm sorry, Sora. We can reschedule. I just really have to-"

"Who's Yuffie's sister?" An image of the bubbly waitress flashed in Sora's mind. Now that he thought about it, she had looked strangely familiar.

"Her name is Xion," Kairi answered hesitantly, "Why?"

"Because she's my best friend's girlfriend and I was just about to go see her myself."

Kairi looked surprised, "Really? What are the odds that the only person that works at my pub that's not in my family also happens to be your best friend's girl-"

"We can ponder the coincidences and the strangeness of it all in the car, but we really need to go," Sora interrupted.

Kairi nodded, "Right. Sorry. Let's go."

* * *

The drive to Twilight Town was quiet. Both of them were extremely worried about the fate of younger of the Kisaragi sisters. Finally, they pulled up to the front of the hospital. "You go and check on them. I'll park the car."

She nodded, "Got it." She climbed out of the car and took off into the building. After talking to a nurse about Xion's location, Kairi made her way to the elevator. "Room 323..." She muttered to herself as the elevator ascended.

Upon reaching the third floor she began to look around for the room number. She saw many people rushing around helping others and she couldn't help but think to herself that one day, this would be her life: rushing from place to place trying to save lives. It was a lot of pressure. She shook the thoughts from her head and followed the numbers to the designated room.

Inside there were only three people: Yuffie, who was barely recognizable without a large smile plastered on her face, Xion, who was lying in the bed fast asleep, and a man whom Kairi had never met before. He had long silver hair and piercing blue eyes that were currently filled with worry. He was holding Xion's hand and stroking it gently.

She slowly opened the door and Yuffie turned to her. She immediately ran up to Kairi and wrapped her arms around her, "Thank you for coming! I wasn't expecting you until tomorrow."

Kairi returned to hug, "You needed somewhere here with you. I wasn't about to just abandon you."

Yuffie nodded into Kairi's shoulder as she let a few tears out, "Thank you, Kairi, thank you..."

At the sound of the name, the man sitting with Xion looked up, "Kairi?"

Kairi looked over Yuffie's shoulder and smiled comfortingly, "You must be Riku. It's nice to finally meet you."

Riku seemed unsure of what to say, but Yuffie released Kairi and looked at her, "Do you guys know each other?"

Kairi half-shrugged, "Well, no. He-"

"She's dating my best friend," Riku said suddenly.

Kairi blushed, "We're not dating... We're just friends."

Riku rolled his eyes, "Yeah. Sure."

"Wait! Is that the guy that you always insist on waiting on when you're working?" Yuffie interjected suddenly very interested.

Kairi's blush deepened, "Is this really the time?"

"The time for what?" Speak of the devil. Sora was standing in the doorway looking confused.

"It _is_ the guy!" Yuffie announced excitedly.

Sora raised a brow, "What guy?"

Before anyone could answer, the heart monitor began to act up. Everyone stopped and looked at Xion. "Someone grab a nurse!" Riku yelled. Sora, who was already in the doorway, ran off to find someone to help Xion. Seconds later the room flooded with people and Riku, Kairi, Sora and Yuffie were forced out. They were told to stay in the waiting room, but Riku wasn't going down without a fight, "I have to be there with her in case something happens..." He was glaring at the doctor who had escorted them to the waiting area.

"I'm afraid I can't let you in there right now. When she's stable, then you and your friends can return, but I'm afraid that visiting hours are almost over."

Riku looked like he was about to explode, but Sora came up behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder, "Let's just wait. We have to let them do their job or there's no chance of Xion recovering."

Riku shot him a glare that quickly softened as the words sank in. He looked back at the doctor and said, "Fine..." Sora led him to some chairs where everyone could sit down.

They sat there in silence, their previous conversation completely forgotten. Time passed and they heard someone enter the room. Everyone looked up in hope of receiving good news, but they were met with something else entirely. In the doorway stood a man with sky blue eyes and spiky blonde hair: Roxas Strife, Xion's partner on their mission. Riku did not handle the new presence well.

"What the hell do you think you're doing here?" He immediately approached Roxas with a look of pure hatred in his eyes.

"I'm here to see my partner, if you don't mind." Roxas's gaze was stony and he refused to give an inch under Riku's intimidating stare. Sora and Kairi looked at each other nervously and Yuffie just sat confused.

"'Partner'? That's a joke, right? Because I thought that a partner would be there. A partner would help when needed. A partner wouldn't let my girlfriend get shot!" Riku was shouting now.

Roxas met him on his level, "Do you think I wanted this to happen? Do you think I meant for her to get hurt? I was there when she was shot! I had to watch!"

Riku stepped back, "What do you mean you watched?"

Roxas looked at his feet suddenly, shame blatant on his face, "She was discovered. They found out who she was and they shot her. I had watch as it happened and I couldn't do anything or else risk blowing my cover. I was lucky they left shortly afterward and I was able to get her here."

"You mean to tell me that you were there? You could have stopped this from happening, but you didn't because of you didn't want to blow your fucking cover?" Riku's voice was so loud at this point that Sora felt the need to intervene.

Sora began walking over to Riku, "Hey. Look, Riku. Roxas couldn't have-"

"Sora... Don't even start or, I swear to God, I will hurt you." Sora stopped and looked at Riku surprised, "You told me she would be fine. You told me I had nothing to worry about... You were wrong." Riku's head was bowed and his eyes were shadowed.

"Riku..." Sora tried.

"No. You know what? I'm done. The Nobodies, Organization XIII, all those fucking assholes who are responsible for this... I'm gonna take them down." Riku began to walk away, but Sora grabbed his arm, "Let go of me, Sora... I'm warning you." He didn't even look at Sora as he said it.

"You can't go alone. You'll die," Sora was desperate. Everyone else seemed to be frozen in fear or shock.

Riku paused for a moment his eyes still dark, "Well, unfortunately I don't have much of a choice. I can't seem to trust anyone else to help me." At that, he forced himself free of Sora's grip and walked out the door. Sora was too shocked and hurt to stop him.

Roxas was still looking at his feet in shame. He was currently dawning the infamous Organization XIII robes. It seemed he came straight from being on the job. Yuffie's mouth hung open in despair. What would she tell Xion when she woke up? If she woke up... Kairi had tears in her eyes. Poor Riku. Poor Xion. Poor Sora... None of them deserved this. Sora stood with his arm outstretched towards where his best friend had just been standing. Riku... I'm sorry...


	7. Chapter 7

After Riku stormed out, no one was sure what to do. Eventually, they were told by a nurse that they would have to leave because visiting hours had ended and they went their separate ways. Sora and Kairi decided to return to the Destiny Islands. The drive back was quiet. It was similar to the drive in, but instead of there being an aura of worry and anxiety, it was just sadness.

They drove along the bridge that connected the islands to the main landmass and Kairi tried to distract herself by watching the waves. She was fascinated that even with all the raging power of the ocean, people had managed to build a lasting bridge to span the distance. In the past, if someone wanted to get to the Destiny Islands they would have to go by boat or plane. This proved to be inefficient, however, because it was too expensive to take a plane anytime someone wanted to leave or enter the islands and it was too time consuming to take a boat. So, instead they constructed the bridge.

They had reached the end of the bridge when Sora finally spoke, "I'm sorry, Kairi."

She looked over at him confused, "Why are you sorry?"

He didn't answer immediately, "This must be strange for you. I mean, I guess after a certain amount of time, every officer gets used to the fact that people are gonna get hurt. It was hard for Riku for obvious reasons, but for Roxas and I, we've learned to just kind of accept it."

Kairi looked at him curiously, "Sora. I want to be a doctor. I'm gonna get used to dealing with death just like you. It'll be different for me because it won't be people I'm close to, but I'll understand that it happens and that sometimes there's not much I can do."

Sora suddenly looked at her. He had a look in his eyes that Kairi couldn't quite place. If she had to guess it might have been hope. He fixed his eyes back on the road, "And what if it _was_ someone you were close to?"

Kairi looked out the window at the passing scenery, "I don't know. Maybe I'll be so used to death at that point that it won't really phase me. Or maybe I'd blame myself for not being able to help, but I think..." She pressed her lips together in thought, "I think that if it were someone I was really close to that it would motivate me further. I wouldn't want anyone else to suffer like they did. It would hurt and I'd be upset for a while, yes, but it wouldn't stop me. Not a chance."

* * *

Sora dropped Kairi off at home and after they said their good nights, Sora started on his way home. His shared apartment would be pretty empty tonight. Unless, of course, Riku had just gone home after letting off steam, but Sora seriously doubted that. Riku had seemed very determined. Sora only wished that he was with Riku. He tended to be a bit reckless without Sora around.

He tried not to think about it too much as he arrived at his apartment. He opened the door and looked around. He was right. Completely empty. Riku hadn't even come home to get some of his things. He must have had his stuff with him to Twilight Town. He had always his pistol on his person. Sora knew that. His only other possession that he kept in his car at all times was his shotgun.

He called it "Way to the Dawn". It was kind of a joke he had with himself that if he ever had to use it, it would send whatever bad guy he came in contact with all the way to the horizon. Sora would have judged him for it if not for the fact that he had two extra guns of his own.

He'd bought one because of Riku. Sora figured that if Riku had a shotgun, then so could he. He'd named his "Oblivion" because that's where he would send his bad guys. The other, however, he'd bought much more recently. It was a .46 Magnum Revolver. He named it "Oathkeeper" because it's only purpose was so that Sora could keep a promise he made to himself. That promise was to keep his friends and family safe.

The strange thing about Oathkeeper is that the night he had bought it was the same night that he'd met Kairi. As a result, Sora felt that Oathkeeper was connected to Kairi in some way. Even though he hadn't used it against the thugs that attacked her, he'd had it with him at the time. It made him feel stronger. It made him more confident. And that's exactly how Kairi made him feel most of the time, too.

So, while he kept Oblivion in the trunk of his car, and he only carried his regular pistol with him when on the job, he always kept Oathkeeper tucked away in a custom holster on his back. He never told anyone about Oathkeeper either. No one knew because he never had to use it. He'd even made a deal with the gunsmith he'd bought it from not to tell anyone. The gunsmith was an old friend named Cid. Cid was friends with Sora's parents when they were younger.

As Sora began to undress, he removed the harness from his back. It was essentially a belt of leather that wrapped diagonally around his bare torso. It went from his left hip to his right shoulder. The holster was placed around his shoulder blades so that the handle would be accessible if Sora reached back and grabbed it. He removed Oathkeeper and placed it under his pillow before changing into his pajamas and climbing into bed himself.

He thought about everything that had happened. It had been a long, extremely eventful day. Sora couldn't believe that this morning, Riku had been trying to scold him on whether or not he should ask Kairi out. And now, Riku was gone without a trace probably getting himself killed and there wasn't anything Sora could do about it. He could go after him, but that wouldn't solve anything. Even if Sora found Riku, Riku would be too stubborn to let Sora help and he would be too determined to give up. Sora just had to hope that Riku didn't get himself killed.

Frustrated with what to do about Riku, Sora shifted his thoughts to another matter that conquered his mind much of the time: Kairi. Sora was fairly certain that he had feelings for Kairi at this point. That he could admit to. And what Kairi had said in the car about not letting the death of someone close to her bring her down was definitely a good thing.

But then again, there's Riku. Riku was one of the strongest guys he knew. He'd survived the deaths of both his parents and he could still bring himself to smile. But now with Xion, he was ready to plunge himself into a situation where he would probably get killed and he did it without a second thought. Then again, he had said that he wasn't sure how he would feel if something had happened to Xion. "Ugh..." Sora groaned as he decided to just clear his head of all thoughts and try to sleep.

* * *

Kairi woke up early the next morning. After Sora had dropped her off, she had gone straight to bed. It had been a long day and she just wanted to put off thinking about everything. Unfortunately, now that morning had come, she didn't have much of a choice. She was wide awake and she had the day off. Normally, Sora would have contacted her about meeting up and doing something, but he hadn't called.

Sora... He never really got the chance to explain himself last night. With everything that happened, Kairi had almost forgotten about their little impromptu "date". If it could even be called that. Sure, it was at a very nice restaurant and she did have feelings for Sora, but did Sora feel the same way? Sometimes she felt like he did because of all the things that he did for her all the time, but maybe Sora was just a nice person.

She shook her head in frustration. What was she doing? One of her friends was going through turmoil because her little sister could be dying and Kairi was worried about whether some boy liked her. But he wasn't just "some boy"... He was Sora. She shook her head again, "Stop it! That's it... You're gonna call Yuffie and check in. Then, you're gonna offer to come out and see her," Kairi nodded to herself. She paused, "But you don't have a car..."

She sighed as she plopped herself down at the kitchen table.

She was still in her pajamas. They were pink with little paopu fruits on them. They were kind of childish, but they were comfortable and no one saw her in them besides her parents anyway.

Riiing!

It was Kairi's cellphone. "Hello?"

"Hey, Kairi." It was Sora.

"Oh, hey, Sora." Great. Just when I'd decided to stop thinking about him. "What's up?" Just then the doorbell rang, "Oh. Hold on, Sora. One second."

"No problem," Sora responded casually.

Kairi went to the front door. It was probably the mailman. Or maybe Selphie coming to ask for relationship advice again. She opened the door to find Sora with a goofy smile on his face and a cell phone pressed to his ear. Or Sora... She hung up her phone.

Sora looked at his phone with mock hurt, "Hey. That was rude!"

Kairi rolled her eyes, "What are you doing here?" Sora was just looking at her curiously. Kairi felt a slight blush rise to her cheeks, "And what are you staring at?"

"Paopu fruits?" Sora said with a raised eyebrow. A small smirk was playing on his face.

Kairi clenched her fists, her blush deepening with frustration, "Shut up."

Sora just laughed, "What? I think it's cute!"

Her face was now the same color as her crimson hair, "Shut up!"

"I'm not allowed to call you cute?" She slammed the door in his laughing face. "Hey! Come on, Kairi! I'll let you see my pajamas!"

She opened the door again, her face still the color of a tomato, "Why are you here?"

Sora's laughter eventually died down and he responded, "Roxas called me and said that Xion's awake. I thought we should go see her."

Kairi's eyes widened, "She's awake?"

Sora nodded with a smile, "Yeah. Roxas didn't give me details, but apparently she's doing well."

Kairi smiled, "That's great! Let's go!"

Sora nodded again, "Yeah! You should probably change first though..." The door slammed as he laughed to himself.

* * *

After Kairi had changed, they were off. Kairi was now wearing a white blouse and black jeans. Sora himself was dressed down for the day. He wore a black polo and tan khakis. Both of them were in much higher spirits than yesterday for obvious reasons. Xion waking up made them forget about Riku for a bit and they were both excited to see her.

Kairi didn't know Xion very well. She'd only met her a couple of times when she would come visit Yuffie at the pub, but she seemed nice. She wasn't as bubbly as Yuffie. In fact, she had a knack for sarcasm and her sass could reduce grown men to tears. It was no surprise that she was a good match for the brash Riku. Then again, she didn't really know Riku either.

From what she's seen of Riku, he was a good guy. He clearly cared about Xion and that was why he had acted the way he did. And from what Sora has told her about him, he's a loyal friend and he functions well under pressure. At the thought of Riku storming out, Kairi began to get worried again. What if something happened to Riku? What would Xion do?

"Hey. What's wrong?" Sora asked from the driver's seat.

"Oh. Uh. Nothing. I'm fine." Kairi didn't want to upset Sora by bringing up Riku, but he was persistent.

"No, you're not. You were fine five minutes ago, but now you look like your worried about something."

Kairi was about to argue, but then she just sighed. Sora was right. She couldn't very well hide it from him, "I'm just worried about Riku..." Sora's frown deepened and Kairi immediately felt terrible for saying anything, "Sora, I-"

"It's okay. I'm worried about Riku, too. I just didn't say anything." He gave her a small smile to reassure her and she smiled back, "While I'm worried about the trouble that he's gonna get himself in, Riku's a big boy. He knows what he's doing and as long as he doesn't let his anger get the best of him, he should be okay."

Kairi nodded, "I guess... You obviously know him better than I do. What do you think he's gonna do?"

Sora thought about this for a little while, "I think that he started to regret his decision as soon as he left. He'd gotten caught up in the moment and he wanted to make a point. He still wants to take out Organization XIII, but he's smart enough to know that he can't do it alone. So, instead he's going to lay low for a little while. He's too stubborn to come and ask for help, but he's not an idiot either. Eventually, he'll swallow his pride and come back. Then, we can handle things together like we always do."

Kairi smiled a bit, "You guys really are close, huh?"

"Yeah..." Sora smiled, too. "Doesn't mean I'm gonna forgive him for acting like an idiot though."

Kairi giggled, "Of course not." They both felt a little better. Sora had been so worried about all the things that could happen to Riku that he'd almost forgotten that Riku is smarter than that. Riku knows how to handle situations like this and he would gonna be fine. They would just have to wait.

* * *

They arrived at the hospital and after Sora found a parking spot, they walked in together. They checked in with the nurse at the front desk and made their way to the elevator. It's funny how the purpose of the visit could completely change the way you see everything. Last night, all they could see were people dying. Old men in wheel chairs and sick people that looked like they would never recover. Now, they saw people being helped. They saw the kids in pediatrics playing and the patients being surrounded by loved ones. It was definitely a welcomed change that made the two of them smile.

They made their way to Xion's room. The only two that were inside were Yuffie and Xion herself. Only Xion wasn't awake like they were told. She was lying limp on the bed. They both rushed into the room and saw Yuffie hiding her face as she sobbed. Kairi ran up to her and wrapped her arms around her, "What happened? I thought the doctors said she was okay?"

"Th-they did," Yuffie choked out.

"Then, why is she like this?" Sora asked as he walked towards Xion. He sat next to her bed and looked at her with confusion plastered all over his face.

"Sh-She thought it w-would be f-funny," Yuffie cried.

"She thought what would be funny?" Kairi asked with concern.

Yuffie muttered in little more than a whisper, "If she pretended to be asleep so she could scare Sora when he got here."

Sora couldn't hear what Yuffie had said, "What?"

"AH!" Xion yelled as she shot up. Sora screamed as he fell out of his seat. The three girls laughed at him as he lay sprawled on the floor.

"What the hell, Xion?" Sora said from the floor, "Why would you do that?"

Xion shrugged, "For funsies."

Sora growled as he got back up. Meanwhile Kairi and Yuffie were still giggling in the background. He couldn't stay mad for long though. Eventually, his smile came back as he stared at Xion, "I'm just glad to see you're okay."

Xion smiled back, "Thanks, Spike."

Sora rolled her eyes at the nickname, "So, what have the doctors told you so far?"

Xion shrugged, "Not much. I shouldn't exert myself too much, make sure to keep myself well fed and hydrated, I may never walk again, and, oh! I might be getting this super cool lanyard with-"

"What?!" Sora and Kairi yelled together.

Xion smiled, "Yeah! This lanyard has like each bone in the body on it and-"

Sora shook his head, "Not that! You may never walk again?"

Xion shrugged, "Yeah. It's kind of a bummer, but they told me that I could get a wheelchair just like the one that Professor X has." She smiled excitedly.

Sora was at a loss for words so Kairi stepped in, "How are you okay with losing the ability to walk?"

Xion shrugged again, "I don't know. I guess I'm not really looking at it like that. It's more that I'm gaining another chance at life. The doctor's told me that I was almost gone for good, you know? But they managed to bring me back. I guess I'm just too grateful to care."

Kairi smiled, "Well, that's very admirable of you."

Xion smiled back, "Thanks. I just hope Riku takes the news well. The things that I won't be able to do anymore... He's gonna be-" She looked around at the faces of everyone in the room, "What's wrong?"

Sora talked this time, "Riku kind of left last night."

Xion raised an eyebrow, "Well, I figured. He couldn't stay all night like Yuf did."

Sora shook his head, "Well, no, but I mean he left. He disappeared. No one knows where he is."

Xion looked confused, "What? What happened?"

The three of them filled Xion in and at the end of it, Xion was just looking down refusing to make eye contact with any of them. Finally, Kairi stepped forward and put a hand on her shoulder, "Are you okay?"

Xion didn't respond immediately, but eventually she said, "That idiot... Of course he would run off and try and avenge me. We need to stop watching so many superhero flicks. One of these days he's gonna get hurt and there's not gonna be any super serum to bring him to top physical perfection."

None of the others were sure what to say. Xion just had an air of casualness to her that none of them could quite grasp. They had just told her that her boyfriend had run off to single-handedly try and take down a huge criminal organization that was responsible for her near death and she was making movie references. They weren't sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing, but they decided that whatever she did, she did to help herself and they couldn't really stop her from feeling what she was feeling.

They spent the rest of the time just talking about random things. Xion asked how Sora and Kairi knew each other, and they were forced to try and explain the situation even though they themselves didn't completely understand it. A doctor came in and said that he had to do some tests and that the three visitors should go to the waiting room. Yuffie went, but Sora and Kairi decided that they should head home for the day. They said goodbye to Yuffie and Xion and made their way back to the car.

The drive home was just as calm as the drive in with the two of them making idle chit chat or sometimes just sitting in comfortable silence. Neither of them felt like discussing the status of their relationship and they were comfortable just letting whatever happens happen for the time being. They were taking a page out of Xion's book and just being grateful. And they were grateful that they had the chance to be with someone that they truly care about without having to worry about what the future held for them.


	8. Chapter 8

Sora visited Xion as often as he could. He figured it was the least he could do since Riku wasn't around. He and Xion were in a very intense, intellectual debate when Roxas walked into the room.

"The Hulk would win because he could just tear Wolverine apart!" Xion yelled.

"Wolverine heals instantly! It doesn't matter how much damage Hulk can do because Wolverine can recover!" Sora retorted.

Roxas entered, "Hey, guys."

"He's not immortal! He can still die. If Hulk does enough damage, he'll die!" Xion didn't seem to hear him.

"Wolverine once had his skeleton ripped out of his body! And guess what happened..? He lived!" Neither did Sora.

"Uh... Guys..?" Roxas stood between them, but neither looked at him.

"The Hulk could tear Wolverine into a million different pieces and pound each piece into dust!"

"And Wolverine would just start to reform and he would come back with a vengeance!"

"For the love of God... Neither could actually kill the other, but Wolverine doesn't age at the same rate, so he would just outlive the Hulk. Even so, it would be kind of a hollow victory because he didn't kill the Hulk. He just happened to die," Roxas interjected. Xion and Sora looked at him with surprise.

"Told you..." Sora muttered as he glanced at Xion. Xion stuck her tongue out and Sora chuckled as he looked back at Roxas, "Hey, man. I haven't seen you in a while."

Roxas gave a bit of a half smile, "Hey. Yeah. I haven't been able to make it here in a while. I can't stay long either. I gotta get back soon."

Xion rolled her eyes, "That's what you said last time."

Roxas shrugged, "It's a pretty demanding job. I can't really help it."

Xion sighed, "I know..." She paused before looking up at Roxas. There was definite worry in her eyes, "How's Axel?"

Roxas shook his head, "Well, he's not doing great. I couldn't tell him that you survived." Xion nodded, "He blames himself, you know."

"What? Why would he do that?" Xion was clearly upset.

Sora interjected, "I'm sorry. But, uh... Who's Axel?"

Roxas almost forgot that Sora was there, "Oh. Axel is another member of Organization XIII. He's a good guy though and he's been trying to help me to take them down from the inside."

Sora raised an eyebrow, "I didn't know there were anymore undercover guys."

Roxas shook his head, "He's not undercover."

Sora's eyes widened, "What?! So, this guy is an actual criminal?"

Xion stepped in, "He only joined Organization XIII because he needed money. His brother is in the hospital."

Sora rolled his eyes, "I'm sure. And let me guess, he also 'accidentally' let it slip that Xion was a spy?"

Roxas started to get angry, "It's not like that. The only reason he blames himself for Xion getting caught is because he used to be good friends with another member, Saix. Saix hung out with the three of us sometimes and because he was a little higher ranked, he even gave us certain missions to complete. Because of all the time Saix spent with Xion, he eventually figured it out. He's cold, calculating and he shows absolutely no mercy, so he shot Xion on the spot. There was nothing me or Axel could have done."

Sora was still unsure, "What makes you think you can believe this Axel guy though? What has he done to prove that he's trustworthy?"

Xion spoke again, but her voice was soft, "He- Well, he was nice to us. Most of the other guys in The Nobodies are grunts and jerks. Axel was kind and funny and he looked out for us. Even when we finally told him who we were, he didn't bat an eye. In fact, he immediately offered to help us. He figures that if he helps take down the Organization, maybe they'll give him compensation to save his brother."

Sora paused, "So, Axel's brother is in bad shape and he's in the hospital right now?" Xion nodded hesitantly. "What's his brother's name?

"Lea. Lea Pyro," Roxas said.

Sora nodded and left the room, "I'll be right back."

Xion just sighed, "Always needs proof, doesn't he?"

Roxas shook his head, "Not always... He used to be one of the most trusting people I knew. When his dad died though, he started to become more suspicious of people. Part of me wishes that we could get the old Sora back though. I see him sometimes. More and more recently actually," Roxas mused.

Xion raised an eyebrow, "Is that so? I wonder why that is."

* * *

Sora smirked at his cellphone. He'd just gotten a text from Kairi that read, "I can't believe you, you jerk! You couldn't even tell me that you were going to see Xion today? You know, one of these days, I'm gonna build a boat or a raft or something and just sail out over the ocean. Then I won't need your stupid car!"

Kairi was always making ridiculous claims like that. She would never follow through with them though. Otherwise, Sora would have been surrounded by all kinds of rafts, paopu charms and blades shaped like keys. The last one stemmed from an argument they'd had in which Kairi claimed that if she had this so-called "Keyblade" she could fight off any bad guys and open any door she wanted, thus ensuring her safety and that she never be locked outside of her house accidentally again.

Sora shook his head at the memory, "Keyblades," he muttered. Not such a terrible idea... He rounded a corner and approached the nurses' station, "Excuse me." A kind looking woman with pink scrubs looked up, "Can you tell me where I can find Lea Pyro's room?"

She nodded and typed something into her computer, "Room 251."

Sora smiled his thanks, "Thank you." And he was on his way. He decided to take the stairs because it was only one floor down and quickly located the room. Inside was a boy with spikey red hair. He had burn marks on his arms and legs and Sora guessed that he'd been caught in a fire or something of that sort.

"Excuse me," he heard from behind him.

Sora spun around to be met by a man who looked very similar to the boy. Only his hair was much longer and he had black tattoos under his eyes. Sora realized he'd been standing in front of the door, "Oh, sorry." He stepped out of the way.

The man nodded and smiled, "Thanks." He was about to step through the door when he stopped and looked at Sora, "Did you know Lea?"

Sora shook his head, "No. But, uh, a friend told me about him."

The man raised an eyebrow, "A friend? You mind if I ask who?"

Sora wasn't sure who this man was, but he was wearing a long black cloak that was often associated with Organization XIII, so he guessed it was Axel, "His name is Roxas."

Axel's eyes widened in recognition, "Oh, really? Roxas? How do you know him?"

"I've known him for a long time. Our parents are old friends." He paused, "You must be Axel." Sora stuck out his hand.

Axel eyed him up as if wondering whether he should trust Sora. If Sora was a friend of Roxas's, he might be a cop. This was a very dangerous situation for Axel, but he smiled regardless and shook Sora's hand, "Indeed I am. Nice to meet you-"

"Sora." Sora finished for him.

Axel nodded again, "Nice to meet you, Sora. Nice name. Shouldn't be too hard to memorize."

Sora smiled slightly, "Uh... Thanks." He paused not entirely sure of what to say, "I'm, uh, sorry about your brother."

Axel's face suddenly became sullen, but only briefly. He shook his head and his smile returned, "He'll be fine. I'm doing everything I can to pay the bills."

Sora nodded, "So, I've heard..."

Axel eyed him again. So, he knew what Axel did and why he did it. "Yeah..."

Sora decided to be straightforward, "Look. If they're right and you're a good guy. Then, I can personally guarantee that your brother's hospital bills will be paid." Sora paused, "But if they're wrong. And you screw us over. Well, I'm pretty sure it will be difficult to pay the bills from behind bars, if I decide to be so merciful." Sora's voice was low and threatening and Axel wasn't entirely sure how to respond.

Whoever Sora was, he really cared about his friends. Axel could respect that. He smiled again, "Don't worry. I'm doing everything I can to help Roxas."

Sora nodded, allowing a smile to reach his own face, "Good."

* * *

After speaking with Axel, Sora returned to Xion to find that Roxas had left already. Xion said that Yuffie was on her way, so Sora said goodbye and started to head home. If he hurried, he could still make it to The Secret Place before it closed. Sora made the drive in record time, though he may have put on the police siren once or twice to bypass a couple of traffic laws.

He pulled up to the pub and heard a familiar voice singing inside. He entered right near the end of Kairi's performance,

"It's too cold  
For you here and now.  
Let me hold  
Both your hands in the holes of my sweater."

Sora smiled to himself. It was a nice song. He couldn't help but wonder what the inspiration for singing it was though. He met her eyes and she smiled at him,

"And it's too cold,  
It's too cold  
The holes of my sweater..."

He clapped for her as she took her bows and she made her way off the stage gracefully. She approached him, "Hey."

"Hey yourself."

"What are you doing here? I thought you were busy not taking me to see Xion?" She smiled teasingly.

Sora chuckled, "Well, I was, but then I thought I could use some good, old-fashioned bar food. So, I made my way to the best pub in town. Unfortunately, they were closed, so I had to come here."

"What was that?" Sora froze. That voice belonged to Kairi's father, the bartender. Leon was a nice guy, but he was scary. He vaguely reminded Sora of the police chief, Cloud. He thought they would get along well with each other.

"N-nothing, sir," Sora stuttered.

Leon just laughed, "Relax, Sora. I'm just messing with you.

Sora relaxed slightly, but he could still feel Leon's piercing gaze on him, "Right..." He laughed nervously.

Kairi just rolled her eyes, "You want your usual table?" Sora nodded and Kairi led him to the table by the window where he had first met Kairi's mother. "And I'm guessing you'll be wanting to usual meal as well?" Sora nodded again with a goofy smile that Kairi couldn't help but just find absolutely adorable.

"Thanks, Kai Kai."

"Don't call me that..." Kairi said as she began to walk away.

"And why's that?" Sora laughed.

"Because I said so, Sora Wora..." She said back in a cooing tone.

Sora blushed slightly, "Fine. Fine. No 'Kai Kai'. Kairi winked at him before entering the kitchen.

Kairi returned later with his meal and proceeded to ignore the rest of her waitress duties as they bantered with one another at the table. Leon didn't mind. The place was mostly dead anyway, like always. Their business came and went with the passing of the day, but they always managed to get enough money to scrape by. Leon smiled as to himself. He had one young police officer to thank for bringing in a constant flow of business. Especially considering the brunette came in every single day to see his daughter.

"What do you mean, you agree with Xion?" Sora gasped, "Roxas clearly made an irrefutable point!"

Kairi rolled her eyes, "And part of that point was that it would be an empty victory because the Hulk will have died of old age not at the hands of Wolverine. The Hulk could defeat Wolverine easily in a fight even if he couldn't actually kill him."

Sora's mouth hung open in shock. This was ridiculous. Wolverine couldn't lose. He was Wolverine. "But... But..."

Kairi smiled, "But nothing. Wolverine loses."

Sora growled, "He may lose the battle, but he wins the war! Even if it is by outliving, it still counts!" Kairi just laughed.

Riiing!

Kairi answered her phone while still trying to control her laughter, "H-hello?" she giggled into the phone.

"Kairi Leonhart?" the tone was very serious and suddenly Kairi didn't feel like laughing anymore.

"Yes?" She said cautiously. Sora looked up at her, worry in his eyes. Something was wrong.

"I'm afraid I have bad news. Your sister, Naminé, has been kidnapped by the criminal organization known as the Nobodies."


	9. Chapter 9

Kairi stood with the phone pressed to her ear. She couldn't move. She couldn't breathe. Naminé? Gone? That wasn't possible. How could that be possible. She was an artist. Why would they want her? Why would they take her away? The sounds coming from the phone eventually tore Kairi from her thoughts, "Ma'am? Are you okay? You haven't spoken in awhile."

Kairi forced herself to nod before realizing that the man on the line couldn't see her and she choked out, "I'm fine. I'm sorry. Thank you for telling me. I have to go..." She didn't give the man any time to respond before hanging up. She couldn't bear to listen to the details of her sister's kidnapping. Not right now. All she wanted to do was lie down and cry. Everything was growing dark around her and she began to feel cold.

"Kairi?" A light. In the darkness. She looked towards it. Soft, blue eyes that were brighter than the sky tucked under crazy, spiky, brown hair. "Kairi, what's wrong?" Warmth spread through her body as a hand touched her shoulder. A strong hand that connected to the beautiful, blue eyes and the ridiculous, brown hair. "Kairi!" Everything came into focus. Sora was looking at her with eyes full of concern. "Why are you crying?"

Kairi reached up to touch her face. It was wet. "I'm sorry... I-I... She..." Her eyes began to well up with tears again at the thought of her best friend, her sister, in the hands of those criminals. She wasn't sure if what she was feeling was her own crushing worry or her sister's paralyzing fear and desperation. As twins, they could sometimes feel what the other was feeling if it was strong enough. It sounded stupid, but it was true. Naminé had even called her the night she had been attacked because she could feel Kairi's fear and desperation as it happened.

Sora was staring at Kairi. He was extremely worried because one second she had been laughing about Marvel characters and now she was crying and shaking because of something she'd heard over the phone. Something really bad must have happened. She had the same broken, helpless tone that Riku had when he spoke about Xion. He immediately wrapped his arms around her.

Kairi was a little surprised. Sora had made casual contact with her many times and they'd shared a hug once that she had initiated, but now he was full on embracing her. His arms were wrapped around her firmly, but gently. Kairi quickly got used to the contact and wrapped her arms around him as well as she rested her head in the crook of his neck. She let the tears continue to spill out as Sora gently rubbed her back in an attempt to soothe her. And it worked. A little.

Sora didn't push Kairi to tell him what had happened and when her parents had noticed her upset they gave a look that they knew what was wrong. They each had looks of worry and sadness on their faces, but Sora wasn't sure if it was worry for Kairi or something else. He continued to comfort Kairi until she calmed down enough to talk. "You okay?"

She nodded and sniffled a little, "Uh huh..."

"You wanna tell me what's wrong?"

She paused for a few seconds before nodding again. She entangled herself from Sora and looked directly at him. He looked worried, but he also looked reassuring. Looking into her eyes made her feel like she could take on the world. As long as she had Sora, she could run into Organization XIII's hideout and save Naminé herself. "It's... It's Naminé."

Sora looked a little confused, but his tone was still reassuring and comforting as he spoke, "What about Naminé?"

"She..." She held back the tears that threatened to come back, "She was taken by The Nobodies."

Sora looked shocked, "What?"

The tears were starting to return. She looked away so that Sora wouldn't see. Not that it mattered, he'd already seen her cry. "They took her. I don't know why... And I don't know where..." Sobs racked her body for a few seconds before she looked back at Sora, "We have to save her."

Sora nodded, "Don't worry, Kairi. I will."

* * *

Sora was planning on heading to Twilight Town alone, but Kairi insisted on coming. Leon and Rinoa were very opposed to letting their daughter go to the city when her sister had just been kidnapped, but Kairi assured them that as long as she was with Sora, she would be fine. Leon and Rinoa reluctantly agreed, but Leon asked to talk to Sora first. Alone.

They stood in the backroom of The Secret Place. Kairi was waiting at the bar far out of earshot. Leon stepped within a few inches of Sora and looked him dead in the eyes with his burning gaze, "Sora..."

Sora tried his best not to fall under the stare as he braced himself for whatever threats or remarks Leon was about to make, "Yes, sir?"

"I trust you..." Well, that's not what he expected. "And I know that you can keep Kairi safe. You've proven that you really care for her and I know that you will do everything you can to make sure she doesn't get hurt." Sora nodded waiting for him to go on. "Just promise me one thing. When you get to where ever those sons of bitches live, put Kairi somewhere safe. I don't want her anywhere near the place, got it? She can come with you to the city, but that's it. Promise me that you won't let her go into that hell hole."

Sora nodded again, "I promise, sir."

Leon looked at him for a few seconds before allowing a small smile, "Call me Leon, Sora. I may be your girlfriend's father, but that doesn't mean I'm not a normal person who should be called by his name."

Sora blushed slightly at the remark, "Oh, uh, si- I mean, Leon. We're not-"

Leon chuckled knowingly, "Of course not..." Then, he donned another serious look, "Now, go. Bring back my daughter."

Sora smiled and nodded, "You got it."

Sora reentered the main room of the pub and Kairi rose immediately upon seeing him. She didn't bother to ask what Sora and her father had talked about because she knew that neither would ever tell. It was probably something about her safety, but she still didn't appreciate being out of the loop. She had instead been left alone to sit at the bar. Her mother was cleaning up because they'd decided to close early.

Being left alone with her thoughts wasn't good for her peace of mind. It gave her plenty of time to think of every worst case scenario. What if they were abusing her? What if they were torturing her? What if they were doing... things to her? She couldn't bear to think about it, but when Sora returned, she began to calm down. Sora's presence just seemed to make her relax. Well, it also excited her, but she couldn't afford to think about that right now.

The two of them made their way to Sora's car without a word. Sora appeared to be thinking of a course of action, while Kairi was busy wondering why they'd come across such bad luck recently. First, Xion gets hurt. Then, Riku disappears. Now, Naminé was taken. Why? Was this some kind of cruel joke? Was there some dark, sadistic person causing these events to take place for his own personal amusement?

They began driving and Sora started talking, effectively tearing Kairi away from her thoughts, "Alright. So, here's the plan; I'm going to drop you off at the Twilight Town Police Station, you're going to give the best physical description of Naminé you can, and I'm gonna search the city for any leads on the location of the hideout."

Kairi nodded slowly. That made sense, "Okay. So, what happens when you find the hideout?"

"I'm going to call the Police Station and tell them where it is. Then, they'll be able to send in a few officers to take down The Nobodies and Organization XIII once and for all. Of course, we'll need a separate group to enter the compound to find Naminé and any other prisoners being kept so they don't get caught in the crossfire." Sora was talking about all of this like it was completely normal and while it seemed odd to Kairi, it was also kind of comforting to know that Sora knew exactly what he was doing.

"That sounds good. So, who's gonna be in the searching group?"

Sora thought for a few seconds, "Well, it should be a very small group, maybe two or three specially trained officers. They should enter the compound earlier than the rest giving them a fair amount of time to find and escort the prisoners out before things get messy."

"Anyone in mind?"

"Well, normally, I would say Riku and myself because we're both trained in hand-to-hand combat and our experience working as a team makes it easy for us to watch each other's backs. However, seeing as that's not an option, I'm not sure... But we'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

Kairi nodded. Unfortunately, Riku's disappearance had more than an emotional toll. They would have to find some other way, "What if..." She paused wondering how Sora would react, "What if you and I went in to look for her. I know exactly what she looks like, so there won't be any confusion. And-"

"No," Sora said simply.

"But what if-"

"No." It didn't appear to be open for debate.

That didn't stop Kairi from trying though, "Why not?"

"Are you joking?" he sounded very serious, "It's extremely dangerous and you could get hurt."

"I'll have you to protect me..."

Sora was slightly flattered at the faith that Kairi had in him, but he pressed further, "There's a good chance that I could get hurt, too. If I have to turn around every five seconds to make sure you're okay, then that will only make things worse. I'm sorry, Kairi. It's just too dangerous for you to go."

"But Sora-"

"Look, Kairi. I know you're worried about Naminé. I completely understand. If it were someone that was really important to me, then I would feel the same way. You just have to understand that you being there isn't going to make finding and saving Naminé easier." Kairi was about to retort again when Sora continued. His voice was much softer now. Almost desperate, "Please, Kairi... If not for your sake. Then, do it for me. If you were in that hideout... And something happened to you... I don't know what I would do."

Kairi looked at him in surprise. If there was any doubt before that he cared for her, there wasn't now. "Okay."

Sora chanced a look at her, "Really?"

She smiled, "Yes, Sora. I'll stay away." He smiled back, "But you have to promise me that you won't go in alone. I don't know what I would without you either..."

Sora nodded, his smile a bit wider now, "I promise."

* * *

The rest of the car ride was a little lighter. They were still worried about Naminé, but they'd seemed to reach a silent agreement that worrying about it wasn't going to help. They would just have to carry out their plan and hope it worked. They were silent for most of the time, a couple of short conversations rising up now and again. They even tried to revisit their Hulk vs. Wolverine debate for a little while, but it seemed a little inappropriate to discuss such things in their current predicament.

They finally reached Twilight Town and Sora made his way to the police station. He was fairly familiar with the layout of the city. He not only knew where the hospital and a few local restaurants and cafes were, he knew the location of the library, the movie theater, the clock tower and, of course, the ice cream parlor. He and Roxas had gone to get Sea Salt ice cream all the time when they were kids.

They pulled up to the station and Kairi unbuckled her seat belt. Before she climbed out of the car, she turned to Sora, "Don't forget your promise. I don't want you going in there alone."

Sora gave a reassuring smile, "Don't worry. I'll wait until I have someone there with me to go in."

Kairi nodded and smiled cutely before climbing out, closing the door and walking into the building. Sora tried his best not to dwell on the look of her smile as he pulled out and started patrolling the city.

He drove around for a while and he couldn't help but be reminded of all the times he'd done the same thing with Riku; Sora trying to focus on the job at hand and Riku making snarky remarks to his right. He suddenly felt a small pit in his stomach at the thought. Where are you, Riku?

* * *

Kairi had spoken to the man at the front desk and they moved her to another room with a couch, a small TV, and a coffee machine. She figured it must have been some kind of break room. It seemed odd to think of police officers as real people that sat around, drank coffee and watched TV. Then again, Sora did most of those things with her all the time and he was a police officer.

Kairi just had trouble seeing Sora in the same light as other policemen and women. Or anyone really. Sora was his own person. She'd never met anyone like him. He was smart, funny, kind and a little silly at times, but he knew when to be serious. He was calm and comforting when you needed him to be, and fun and ridiculous when you wanted him to be. And, let's face it, he was attractive. Very attractive. He was so attractive that Kairi was fairly certain that if he were any more attractive, he'd have his own gravitational field of attraction. I mean, the gravity-defying hair alone was evidence enough that he had some kind of gravity related abilities. It was like some spell that he could cast.

"Miss Leonhart..?"

"Huh? What?" Kairi had been staring deep into space. There was a woman in front of her holding a pencil and what looked like a sketchbook. She could recognize it because Naminé carried one with her everywhere she went. Naminé...

"Miss Leonhart... Are you okay?"

Kairi snapped out of her daze once again, and forced a small smile, "Yeah. I'm fine. Sorry. Just got a lot on my mind, I guess."

The woman nodded her understanding, "That's quite alright. It's understandable." She paused as if unsure of how to transition into the next part of the conversation, "Now. I'm here so that we can capture the appearance of the person in question. You say her name was Naminé?"

Kairi nodded trying not to worry too much, "Yes. But if I may ask... Why are you drawing a sketch instead of just using a picture of her?"

The woman appeared confused, "Wait. Do you have a recent picture of her?"

Kairi nodded again, "Of course. She's my sister after all. What kind of sister would I be if I didn't have at least one good picture of her?"

"I must have misunderstood. If you have photograph then we don't need to draw anything out at all. Do you have a picture with you?"

"Well..." Kairi reached into her pocket and pulled out her cellphone. "I should have one on here somewhere, if that's okay?"

"That's perfectly fine. We can upload the picture to the computer and print out copies. Any picture will do. Preferably one that captures her appearance well to limit confusion. Once we have a reference, we can send out a team to find her."

"Right..." Kairi was barely listening. She was busy scrolling through her photos. There were plenty of photos of Kairi and her family; pictures of her father, mother and, of course, Naminé. However, Kairi kept getting distracted by the photos that she had taken with Sora on occasion. Sometimes he would just steal her phone and take a million pictures of himself with funny faces or his attempt at seductive stare as a joke. Even so, Kairi had to admit that some of them were... Interesting to say the least.

"So... Did you find a suitable photo?" the woman asked. Kairi had been taking longer than expected. She really needed to stop thinking about Sora. This was getting to be ridiculous. The only thing that mattered right now was Naminé's safety.

"Oh. Sorry. Yeah." Kairi quickly selected a picture of Naminé that she really liked. Naminé was wearing a simple, white dress that hugged her figure nicely and a pair of light blue flip flops. She had a small smile on her face as she clenched her sketchbook and a pencil as she drew. Coincidentally, there was a sketch of Kairi somewhere smiling behind a camera as she took the picture.

The woman took Kairi's phone and plugged it into a nearby computer. Once the picture was downloaded and blown up to size, she started to print out a few copies. She thanked Kairi for her assistance and offered to let Kairi stay in the break room until Sora returned. Kairi declined. She didn't want to just sit around. So, instead, she decided to visit Xion in the hospital. Talking to her might take her mind of things for a time and she hadn't visited in a little while. Visiting hours were almost over though, so she'd have to hurry.

She started walking the streets of Twilight Town and did her best to avoid dark alleys and side streets. After a while, she could see the hospital in the distance. She started to walk a bit faster. The less time she had to spend out on the dark streets, the better. She was a few blocks away when she felt someone grab her wrist. No... Not again.

She turned to see two men. One was a little taller than her and was pretty skinny. He was the one grabbing her wrist. There was a much shorter man standing right behind him. They both wore predominantly white clothes and they smiled deviously at her. The taller one spoke, "What's the matter, baby? You going somewhere?"

Kairi tried to pull from his grip, but it was iron tight. "Yes. I am. Let me go," she kept her voice calm.

He laughed and it sounded unnatural, "Oh, come on. Don't be like that. Why do they always gotta play hard to get, Creeper?"

The shorter one laughed. He certainly was creepy, "Well, if she wants to play games then let's make sure that we win. We just gotta score."

Kairi was beginning to panic. There wasn't anyone around. She considered screaming, but before she had the chance, she heard another voice. This one was smoother, "Let her go." It didn't sound familiar. She looked in the direction of the voice. So did the two creeps.

In front of them stood a tall man in a black coat that reach his feet. He had long spiky red hair that went up and back. He had piercing green eyes and small tattoos under each one. The two guys that had been harassing Kairi looked at him with a twinge of annoyance, "When did you become so noble?"

The man smirked, "There's a difference between being noble and recognizing when a fine, young lady doesn't want to get mixed up with a couple of weirdos like you two."

The shorter one muttered to the taller one, "What do we do, Dusk? If we disobey, we'll be in big trouble."

The bigger one growled in frustration, "Fine. Whatever. You can have her." He let go of Kairi's wrist and she immediately took a few steps away. He turned to his friend, "Let's get of here." The pathetic duo seemed to slither away and were gone.

Kairi turned to her savior, "Thank you so much."

The man looked around as if surveying the area, "Yeah. Yeah. No problem. What are you doing out in the middle of the night anyway?"

Kairi was taken aback by his tone. He'd saved her, but he seemed a little callous, too. "I was going to visit my friend, Xion, in the hospital."

Suddenly, he looked right at her with a look of surprise all over his face, "X-Xion?"

Kairi raised an eyebrow, "Yeah?"

The man was at a loss for words, "Sh-She's alive?!" He seemed pretty excited.

"Yes..?"

He literally jumped for joy at that, "Xion's alive! This is fantastic!"

"I'm assuming you know her?"

The man smiled widely at her, "Yeah! I had no idea she was okay... Oh, I'm gonna kill Roxas, that son of a bitch!" He said and laughed hysterically right afterwards.

Kairi was very confused at this point, "I'm sorry. So, you know Roxas _and _Xion? Who are you?"

The man continued to smile, "I'm a member of Organization XIII, I'm Roxas's best friend and my name is Axel. Got it memorized?"


	10. Chapter 10

Axel had been walking back home after visiting Lea at the hospital when he saw the scene. Two grunts from the group that he, unfortunately, belonged to were harassing some girl. Normally, he might have let this kind of thing go to avoid arousing suspicion from the higher ups, but he felt compelled to help this girl for some reason. And, boy, did it pay off. Not only did she know Axel's two best friends in the world; she informed him that the one that he'd thought was dead was actually alive and doing fine.

Albeit she was probably going to spend her life in a wheelchair. Hey, maybe she could get one like Professor X... That'd be awesome. In any case, the girl, whose name was Kairi apparently, had been going to visit Xion because her coworker, Yuffie, was Xion's sister. She knew Roxas, partly through Xion, but also because of another guy that'd Axel had met recently, Sora. Let's just say, this girl was well connected.

"Wait, so, if you're a member of Organization XIII, why did you save me?" Kairi was confused. She'd been tempted to just run away from Axel as soon as he mentioned his involvement in the Organization, but he'd helped her, so he couldn't be all bad.

He sighed, "I never wanted to be in the gang. My friend Saix convinced me to join because I needed the money. I don't like what they do or how they treat people, but until I find another source of income, I don't really have much of a choice."

She nodded understandingly, "Okay. Well, maybe you could become a cop like Roxas, Xion and Sora?"

Axel shrugged, "I doubt they would want to hire a former gang member."

"People hire hackers all the time to hack for them because of their skill set. If you prove to them that you've turned over a new leaf, they wouldn't have any reason to distrust you."

There was a glimmer of hope in Axel's eyes, "Maybe..." Could he really live an honest living? Ever since his parents had died and Lea had gotten hurt in that fire, Axel had been forced to do really dishonest things. He couldn't even imagine a world where he would be free to do whatever he wanted without fear. But maybe, when all of this finally blew over, he would.

"First thing you can do to help them out is to show Sora where your hideout is," Kairi suggested.

Axel raised an eyebrow, "Your boyfriend's gonna try and go in there alone?"

Kairi blushed, "We're not dating... And, no. Once he knows where it is, he'll call in backup."

Axel smirked at Kairi's answer, "Fair enough. Where is he?"

Kairi shrugged, "Somewhere in the city. He was looking for a lead."

Axel nodded, "Don't worry. I'll find him. In the meantime, let me escort you the rest of the way to the hospital, so you don't get yourself killed."

Kairi reluctantly nodded. She didn't like being coddled like this, but she knew that it was necessary because of the dangers of the city. He walked with her to the hospital and once she was safely inside he disappeared into the shadows of the night.

* * *

Sora must have driven down every single street in the city. There were no signs of Nobodies or anyone that looked like they might know where this hideout was. He was about to throw in the towel and go back to the station to pick up Kairi when Sora saw him.

There was a tall man in the signature Organization cloak. He was leaning up against the wall in an alley. He didn't seem at all bothered by the cop car that was close by. Nor did he seem bothered when Sora climbed out of the car with a gun and approached him, "Hey!"

The man looked up, "What?" His voice sounded vaguely familiar.

"What's with the outfit? Sora didn't have his gun out, but he had it in his holster ready to go.

"Can't a guy just wear a long black coat with a hood? Or is that against the law now?" He sounded like he was teasing Sora, which was annoying. Even so, Sora couldn't shake the fact that his voice sounded like he'd heard it before.

Sora scowled, "It's not against the law, but it happens to be a trademarked look for Organization XIII, a group of criminals that work out of this area."

The man laughed, "No need to get all touchy. I was just joking. I'm actually here looking for you. I figured if I made myself as suspicious as possible, you'd probably find me without me having to search the city for you."

Sora raised an eyebrow, "Why would you be looking for me?"

He chuckled, "Your girlfriend told me to come find you."

"What? I don't have a girlfriend..." Sora's thoughts drifted to Kairi, but he shook them away, "You must have the wrong guy."

"So, you're not dating that redhead with the blue eyes? Does that mean that she's fair game?"

Sora would have said yes to prove his point, but something about Kairi dating other guys just made him mad, "Not to guys who lurk in alleys and speak in riddles."

He laughed again, "Whatever, man. I just came here to tell you that I know where the Organization's hideout is and I can take you there."

Sora was confused, "How do you know where the hideout is?"

He removed his hood, uncovering long red hair and glowing green eyes, "Because I'm a member, remember?" It was Axel. Sora knew that the voice sounded familiar.

"Axel? What the hell? Why didn't you just say it was you and avoid all of that?"

He shrugged, "For funsies."

The two of them made their way down side streets and eventually came to a forested area on the edge of the city. Sora looked at Axel questioningly, "I thought it was in the city..."

Axel shook his head, "Not quite. It's close enough so that most of our operations can be handled here, but if it were in the city they probably would have found it by now."

"Fair enough."

They made their way through the trees and Sora felt like if he didn't have Axel there, he could have easily gotten lost. Eventually, they came upon a large clearing. In the clearing stood a tall, old-looking mansion. Axel spread his arms in presentation, "Here we are!"

Sora raised an eyebrow, "This is it?"

Axel nodded, "Yep. The boss owns the place. The base is actually underground, but the only way to get in is through a secret passage inside."

"Well, great. How do I find the secret passage?" Sora asked.

Axel shrugged, "You're gonna have to figure it out. If I can go any further with you they'll figure me out."

"What difference does it make? We're about to take them down for good. Who cares if they know whose side you were on at the end?"

"We don't know if this will actually work. If The Nobodies survive they'll come after me. I can't risk that. I'm sorry."

"The police department will protect you if that happens," Sora reasoned.

"They won't be able to watch me all the time and I'm not doing any witness protection shit. Look, I'm sure you'll figure something out. I'm out of here."

Before Sora could protest any further, Axel was gone. He seemed to have faded into the shadows. Sora cursed under his breath and looked up at the mansion again, "Well, I guess I should call this in."

Sora called the station and had them track his location, so they would know where to go. He was about to ask them to send someone to help him extract any prisoners when a gun shot pierced his ears. His phone went flying out of his hand as the bullet made contact with the small device. Sora whipped around and saw a man in white clothing standing with a pistol in his hand.

Sora dove out of the way of the next few shots while drawing his own pistol. He fired off a few rounds and the man fell. Sora didn't have much time to breath though because the sounds of gunfire attracted more attention from inside. Five more guys came running out. Three of them were unarmed, one had a knife and the last one was also carrying a pistol.

Sora emptied the rest of his clip on the one with gun while the other four closed on him. The one with the knife lunged at him and Sora shifted out of the way while grabbing his wrist. He twisted it at a sharp angle and the man dropped his knife with a yelp. Sora then delivered a strong punch right to his stomach before shoving him in the direction of another guy. They both fell to the ground and Sora turned his attention to the other two that were about to attack him from behind.

He ducked and swept his foot at their legs causing both of them to topple down. Then, as they fell, he grabbed one by the torso and flipped him in mid-air so that he would land on the one next to him. They both grunted in pain. Sora returned his attention to the first two who were now attempting to stand. Sora quickly punched one of them in the jaw before delivering a swift kick to the others chest. They both stumbled back one in front of the other. This allowed Sora to run forward and hit them with drop kick sending them back to ground.

Sora waited there for a few seconds catching his breath in case any of them decided to get back up and attack again, but none of them did. Sora then looked down to where his shattered phone lay and sighed, "Well, I guess I'm just gonna have to wait until someone shows up."

"I guess it's a good thing that I just got here then," another familiar voice said.

Sora whirled around to see another man about the same height as him in a black cloak. Sora was about to go back into combat mode when the man lowered his hood. It was Roxas. Sora sighed in relief, "Jeez, Roxas. Don't sneak up on me like that."

Roxas chuckled, "Sorry, man. I was at the hospital with Xion when Kairi showed up. She told me that you were trying to get here because you wanted to save her sister."

Sora nodded, "Yeah. Her sister was taken by the Organization. We don't have a clue why."

Roxas sighed, "Well, I think I may know. You see, recently we've been in communication with someone within the city. This person kept the Organization updated in recent news concerning the city. I think Kairi's sister might have been that person. She may not have known with whom she was dealing, but she could have very well been taken because she figured it out or because she disobeyed in some way."

"Why would the Organization need to know information about news in the city? And couldn't they just watch the news or something to figure it out?"

"It's more complicated than that. The Organization needs to be kept updated on very specific things like police activity and captured criminals. When crime is at a low, it's safer for them to take action because the police won't be expecting it as much. When their thugs get caught doing something stupid, they have to remain hidden until it blows over. They can't very well keep up with all that kind of stuff on their own with everything else they have to deal with, but people within the city are exposed to it without even needing to try. Most of the time, any members that live in the city are used for this sort of thing, but every once in a while they take in outside help. It's also how they do most of their recruiting."

"I see. So, Naminé must have picked up on what they were asking for and decided she didn't want any part of it. The Organization had to make sure she didn't go running to the police so they took her," Sora hypothesized.

Roxas nodded, "Sounds about right. The question is, what do we do now?"

"You and I go in and get her. You know the ins and the outs of this place, and I can take out just about anyone we meet while we're in there."

"Good enough for me. Let's go."

The two of them entered the large mansion as silently as they could. Roxas led Sora up the right staircase and into a library. There had been a couple of guys lurking in the halls, but Sora had handled them quietly and effectively. Roxas walked up to the table in the middle of the room and made a couple of markings on some kind of picture. The completed symbol then lit up slightly as the room began to shift. Suddenly, there was a staircase leading down and Roxas gestured for Sora to follow.

They made their way through long passageways and computerized rooms until they found themselves in a large, high roofed room. Roxas began to lead Sora across the room saying that the passage into the main structure was on the other side. They made it about halfway into the room when all the lights shut off.

They heard a shuffling and when the lights turned back on they were surrounded by thugs. Each one had a weapon of some kind in their hands and there must have been twenty of them at least. Sora threw off his jacket and wrapped his hands around the shotgun he had strapped to his back. With Oblivion in his hands, he felt more powerful, but he wasn't sure if he could take on all of them at once. Roxas looked just as nervous.

Sora loaded the black, one-handed shotgun and looked around at all of them. This was gonna get messy. One charged out of the midst with crowbar. Sora dodged the swinging bar and used the man's momentum to flip him onto the ground before putting his gun to the man's forehead. "How did you know we were here?" He asked calmly. He was kneeling next to the man as he spoke.

The man laughed, "We knew someone would eventually come for the girl. She's a cutie after all. But unfortunately for you two, we're gonna get to keep her. There's no way you can take on all of us by yourselves." He continued to laugh until Sora knocked him out with the butt of his gun.

Sora stood to face the rest of them, "I don't want to have to kill all of you, but if you attack us, I'll have no choice. Give up and your punishment will be much less severe."

They all began to laugh in much the same manner that the other one had. Roxas leaned over and said, "Nice try."

Sora shrugged, "It was worth a shot." With that they plunged into combat.

The few that had guns didn't seem particularly good at using them. Sora was well accustom to using his surroundings as shielding even if it meant using the bodies of the men he'd already taken care of. After taking down a handful of the guys, Sora was starting to get tired. Roxas didn't seem well off either. He had no martial arts training and he wasn't much good with a pistol either. Sora couldn't shake the fact that if Riku were there with him, they'd be able to take these guys with no problem.

After taking out a few more guys, Sora was starting to get pretty beaten up. A few of them had landed some good hits on him and Sora was definitely slowing down. Roxas had taken twice as many hits and he was out of ammo. Just when the grunts were starting to completely overwhelm the two, the sound of a sub-machine could be heard from across the room. Oh, great...

"Take that, bitches!" Wait, was that..? "Axel's the name and mowing morons down is my game! Got it memorized!?" Indeed it was...

"Axel?" Sora looked around to see that it was, in fact, Axel and he was wielding two sub-machine guns that he used to fire upon the guys around Sora and Roxas. Most of them were clearly shocked that one of their own was firing upon them, but with Roxas being a traitor to them already, they got used to the idea fast.

"Hey, Sora! Don't worry, I'll handle things here. You two go ahead and find Kairi's sister." Axel had a wide grin on his face, but he had a strange look in his eyes. If Sora didn't know any better, he'd say it was sadness.

"Axel!" Roxas yelled, "What are you doing?"

"Roxas, you son of a bitch! You didn't tell me Xion survived!" Axel laughed, "I told you. I got this! GO!"

Sora began to make his way to the door, but more and more Nobodies were coming into the room at the sound of the commotion. At the last second, Sora turned back around and plunged himself back into the fray. Using Oblivion to make a path to Axel, he stood in front of the taller man, "We'll handle this together." Roxas stood at the edge confused and unsure of what to do, "Roxas! You go find Naminé! I'll catch up!"

Roxas seemed torn between helping his friends and getting the job down. Ultimately, he decided that Sora and Axel would be okay without him and he plunged deeper into the Nobody headquarters. Meanwhile, Sora and Axel were back to back fighting off all the guys around them. Between Sora's shotgun and hand-to-hand skills and Axel's recklessness with his machine guns they managed to hold the guys at bay pretty well.

Sora was in the middle of taking out three guys at once when a grunt with a rifle took aim at him. Axel noticed him out of the corner of his eye and pushed Sora out of the way just as the shot was taken. Axel was thrown off his feet from the force of the shot and fell. Sora noticed this and made quick work of the guys he was dealing with.

He knelt down next to Axel who looked up at him with a smile, "Hey, Sora..." He coughed and Sora could see blood coming out of his mouth, "You know that Kairi of yours... She... She made me realize that I didn't have to be a criminal. She made me think for just a second I could do something that was worth a damn in my life."

Sora shook his head, "Axel. You've been spending your life trying to help your brother. That's definitely worth it."

Axel laughed and winced in pain, "Yeah. I guess it is." He coughed again, "Sora... Take care of Lea for me, would ya? Make sure he gets the help he needs..."

Sora's throat clenched, "Don't talk like that. You're gonna be fine. I'm gonna get you out of here."

Axel smiled, "I think I'll pass." He coughed, "T-tell Roxas... I'm s-sorry..." With that his body went limp. Sora didn't know what to do... Suddenly, Sora was filled with so much anger and pain that he took one of Axel's machine guns and unloaded it on the guys around him. He was much more accurate than Axel and the rest of the the grunts fell. All except for one. He held his rifle and pointed it at Sora with a smirk. Sora dropped the machine gun and before the man could even think about pulling the trigger, Sora had unloaded the rest of his shotgun shells into his head.

Sora felt weak... He was surrounded by bodies. He fell to his knees. He was breathing heavily. He clenched his fists into tight balls and screamed, "Goddammit!" He spent a while like that. He looked towards the door that Roxas had left through and pulled himself to his feet. He was about to walk towards the door when he looked down at where Axel's body lay, "Axel... Thank you... I'll make sure to take care of things for you... And... I'm sorry, too." At that, Sora reloaded Oblivion and headed off into the depths of Organization XIII.


	11. Chapter 11

Roxas rounded another corner, "Where could she be?" He'd already checked where they usually kept prisoners, but she wasn't there. Roxas was especially surpised to find that no one, in fact, was there. Word hadn't spread throughout the compound that Roxas was a traitor, so he was left unhindered by any nobodies that happened to come in contact with him as he made his way through. He decided to approach one that he knew to guard the prisoners most of the time, "Hey, Zerker. Did we move the prisoners?"

The large man in front of him carried a very large assault rifle and had a very stoic expression on his face, "What prisoners?"

Roxas shrugged trying to nonchalant, "I dunno. I just can't remember the last time we _didn't_ have someone thrown in there for doing something stupid and the entire prison block is empty."

Zerker's expression remained unchanged, "Well, we haven't had many problems with our associates in the city lately. The only one whose given us any problems is that girl and Saix said he'd take care of her himself."

Roxas eye's widened, "Really? Is she that important?"

Zerker just stared at him and sighed with the same bored expression, "I don't know. Made less work for me, so what do I care?"

Roxas figured he wasn't gonna get anything else from the guy and continued searching on foot. If Saix took her than she could be anywhere. But why would he? What made her so important that Saix took it upon himself to deal with her? He continued his search until he came upon the hallway that held the private offices of each member of Organization XIII. There were six rooms on each side with a large set of double doors at the end leading into the boss's office.

Roxas peered into each room. Most of the guys in the Organization didn't hang out in the compound in their free time. The only three that seemed to stick around pretty consistently were Saix, Xigbar and the boss himself. Saix was head of disciplinary operations and he often spoke directly to the boss when dealing out tasks for other members. Xigbar was one of the founding members and usually only left the compound if the boss needed to make sure something got down efficiently. Mostly assassinations and stuff like that. Things where there couldn't be trail leading back to them.

Roxas looked into Saix's office and saw him staring at the wall. He seemed to be staring pretty intently at it and not moving. Roxas opened the door as quietly as he could and made his way into the room. Before he could say anything though, Saix spoke first, "What do you want, Roxas?"

Roxas was slightly surprised Saix knew who it was without looking, but he spoke regardless, "It seems that there's been somewhat of a disruption within the compound. The police have begun to infiltrate. We don't know how many there are or how much damage they've done, but none of the guys we've sent in that direction thus far have returned."

Saix just nodded. He still hadn't even looked at Roxas. He held a very calm demeanor that really intimidated just about everyone. The only time he ever got angry about anything he went totally berserk and Roxas had feared for his life. "Well, if that's the case, we should probably inform the boss."

"Yeah, probably, but uh... What about the prisoners, sir? Should we take precautionary measures against them getting out?"

"I don't think that will be necessary. The only prisoner that we currently have is very well isolated and has absolutely no hope of escape."

"Really, sir? Why's that?" Roxas was trying his hardest to feign innocence so that Saix would tell him what he wanted to know.

"Well, for one. She's in the room with us right now."

Roxas's eyes flitted about the room, but saw no sign of anyone besides the two of them, "What do you-"

"She's inside a secret compartment that attaches to this room. She's been causing problems for us for quite some time now, so we had to take rather extreme measures to ensure she couldn't communicate with outsiders." Saix's voice was still deadly calm and Roxas's heartbeat began to rise as his nerves kicked in.

"W-well, sir. That's great and all, but if the police come through here, couldn't they find her?"

Saix shrugged. His eyes still planted on the wall, "Well, first of all, if they wanted to do that, they'd have to get past every single Nobody up until this point. Then, they would have to make it past me."

Roxas raised an eyebrow, "Just you, sir? I could assist in keeping the prisoner out of enemy hands..."

"While that may be a good idea in theory..." Saix finally turned to Roxas and he had fire in his eyes that Roxas had only ever seen once before, "Unfortunately, you're only here because you're a betrayer and you're trying to free her yourself."

Roxas took a step back, "W-what? Me? A B-betrayer? I would never."

"Wouldn't you?" Saix took a slow step forward.

Roxas subtly reached for the door behind him, "Of course not, sir. I've been loyal for so long now. I would never betray the Organization or the Nobodies."

Saix continued his slow march toward Roxas with the same deadly gaze, "Really? Because I think that you already have. I think that you assisted an officer into the building and led him right to us." He paused, "Of course... I may be wrong. I only have the video surveillance for evidence." It was then that Roxas realized what Saix had been staring at. Just over his shoulder, Roxas could see a small screen on the wall that flipped through various hallways within the compound. Shit...

"Well, sir. It seems we're in a bit of a pickle. While your points just seem to be so incredibly spot on, I can't help but feel that-" Roxas wrapped his hand around the handle and thrust it open. He bolted from the room.

The only thing he could here was Saix's bone chilling scream behind him, "ROXAS!"

Roxas bolted down the hall and down the staircase. He heard Saix's footsteps above him and he had to think fast. He couldn't run forever. Sooner or later, Saix would either catch up or someone would stop him. As he reached the bottom of the staircase he decided to duck behind the stairs and hide under them. He swung the door leading out of the stairway open as he passed it. That way it would look from the pursuer's perspective that he had kept running through the door and go right past his hiding place.

Just as Roxas thought, Saix caught the door right as it was about to close and ran through it without a second thought. Roxas figured that if Saix wasn't so mad at the present moment, the trick probably wouldn't have worked. However, Saix's rages were infamous for being destructive and lacking the logic and reason that he was usually known for. As soon as the door closed behind Saix, Roxas sprinted back up the stairs.

If he could get back to Saix's office and find Naminé, they'd be able to take the secret exit in Roxas's office. He and Xion had used it frequently to leave the compound without arousing suspicion from the rest of the Organization members. The exit was already there when Roxas arrived, but he had never found out why. The best he could figure is that the room used to be part of an emergency route in case of fire or some other potential danger. He decided not to question it too much, however, because it was convenient for him.

Roxas made his way to Saix's office and walked through the still open doorway. He searched the room for some kind of button or switch that would open a secret door, but he couldn't seem to find one. He approached Saix's desk and searched it and there on the underside of the desk was a small button. Roxas pressed it and the far wall opened to reveal a very small room that was barely twice the size of a broom closet.

Lying on the ground was a girl with shoulder-length blonde hair and a while dress. Roxas rushed to her and nudged her gently. She didn't respond. He rolled her onto her back and brushed the hair out of her face. He stopped. She... She was beautiful. She had a pale, delicate face that Roxas was fixated on. After a few seconds, Roxas shook the feeling that was rising within him. Not now.

He checked her pulse and her breathing. She was still alive, but her pulse was weak and her breath was shallow. Roxas would have to carry her out. He wrapped his arms around her petite figure and lifted her. She was very light. Roxas made for the door and almost ran into a wall because he kept getting distracted looking at her face. He reached his office and walked to the back wall where he set the girl down. He continued to look at her for a few seconds. Naminé... Wow...

He shook the feeling once again and flicked a switch on the back wall opening up a door. It wasn't hidden as well as Saix's small room, but not many people knew about it. He lifted Naminé again and walked through the door. It would close on its own in about thirty seconds, but just in case someone else knew about it, Roxas had to book it. He ran with Naminé in his arms. He carried her bridal style and tried really hard not to think of the implications. He finally made it to the end of the passage and walked up the flight of stair that led to the surface.

It led directly into the local library. The library wasn't far from the hospital, but Roxas still had to hurry because of Naminé's unstable condition. He ignored the confused looks from people in the library and made it out into the streets of the city. It was well into the night now and Roxas knew that there would be Nobodies around. Hopefully, they wouldn't talk to him.

"Yo, Roxas!" Or not... "What are you doing, man?" It was Demyx. He wasn't so bad, but he was kind of annoying. Whenever he was at the compound he would sing and play his guitar. He fancied himself a rebellious rock star. Frankly, most thought he went a bit too far in joining a criminal organization, but he figured that it would just make him seem like more a "bad boy".

"Oh, uh, hey, Demyx. What's up?" Roxas tried to act as natural as he could with a beautiful girl lying limp in his arms.

"Uh, what's with the girl?" Demyx asked curiously as he approached.

"Hmm? What? Oh! Her? Oh. Nothing. I was just, uh..." Roxas wasn't sure what to say.

Demyx suddenly got a very knowing look, "Oh. I see what's going on here..."

Roxas tensed, "What?"

"Yeah. I totally know what you're doing with her."

"I, uh. I'm-"

"You're taking her back to your place! That's hardcore, man." He winked at Roxas, "Well, I won't keep you. Rock on, bro." At that he disappeared into the night and Roxas was left alone with a very deep blush on his face.

"I... I should go to the hospital..." He muttered to himself before continuing on his way.

He finally made it to the medical building and approached the front desk. The nurse looked up worriedly and rushed to meet him, "What seems to be the problem?"

"I'm not actually sure. I found her like this."

The nurse looked at Roxas with a suspicious expression before doing a quick scan of Naminé, "She doesn't seem like she's sustained any physical injuries, but if I had to guess, she's probably been malnourished. We'll get her some help right away. What's your name?"

"Uh... Roxas... Roxas Strife."

"Well, Mr. Strife. I can't guarantee anything right now, but I think she's gonna be alright."

Roxas sighed in relief, "Fantastic..." He smiled gratefully, "Thank you." The nurse nodded and after Roxas placed Naminé in a wheelchair, the nurse took her away.

Roxas stood in the room for a little while unsure of what to do. He couldn't visit Xion. Visiting hours had passed and she was probably sleeping anyway. He couldn't sleep himself. He had way too much on his mind. Maybe he should go back to the compound and help Sora and Axel. They seemed fine when he left them, but Roxas could just go and make sure.

"Roxas?"

He turned to the source of the sound. It was Kairi. She seemed to be half-asleep in one of the chairs in the room. She was rubbing her eyes as if she just woke up. "Oh, uh. Hey, Kairi. What are you doing here?"

"I was visiting Xion. Wh-" She yawned, "What are you doing here?"

"Oh! Well, uh. Actually, I just dropped off your sister..."

Kairi's eyes snapped open, "What?! My sister's here? Is she okay? Can I see her?" She jumped from her seat and ran to Roxas gripping his shoulder's tightly, "What happened? Was Sora there? Is he okay? Why isn't he with you? Where's Axel?"

Roxas stared confusedly at her, "Woah, woah, woah... Slow down. Uh... Yeah. Naminé is being taken care of right now. They said she was gonna be fine. I don't know if you can see her right now, but don't worry. She's okay. As for Sora and Axel, last I saw they were still in the compound fighting off Nobodies. They sent me ahead to find Naminé. They were struggling, but they both seemed fine. I doubt anything happened to either of them."

Kairi seemed to relax greatly, "Okay... Okay, good. Uh... Wait. You said they were fighting off Nobodies, right? How many were there?" Roxas looked at the ground and mumbled. Kairi didn't hear it. "Roxas... How many _were_ there?" She enunciated the question this time.

"There were like... I dunno. Twenty. Give or take?" Roxas looked at her guiltily.

"What?! And you just left them? Oh, god... Oh, god... What do we do? What do we do? They could be hurt!" Kairi was freaking out. Sora wasn't in there alone, but that didn't make her feel any better unless she knew for sure that he was okay.

"Kairi... Calm down. If you want, I can go back there and find them. I'll get them out of there and everyone will be fine." Roxas looked sympathetically at her. She was genuinely worried about them.

"No... That won't work either. You can't go in there alone. You'll get hurt, too." Kairi was starting to calm now as a plan formed in her head.

"Nice to know you have faith in me..."

"It's not that. There's just a lot of guys in there and they could overwhelm you if you were by yourself."

Roxas sighed, "Fine. Fair enough. So, what other options do we have? It's not like there's anyone else around here that can help."

"I beg to differ." The voice came from the doorway. Kairi and Roxas turned to see who it was. Both were extremely surprised by who was standing there. Standing in the doorway, donning the signature Organization XIII cloak was none other than Riku Masamune.


	12. Chapter 12

"Riku?" Kairi took a few cautious steps towards the hooded figure.

He lowered his hood and smiled kindly, "Hello, Kairi."

Kairi immediately rushed over to him and gave him a bone crushing hug, "Riku! You're back!" She then just as quickly stepped away and smacked him across the face, "But don't ever do that again! You're lucky Xion is so understanding... She has every right to hate you right now..."

Riku sighed and bowed his head in shame, "I know. I've been checking in on her from time to time and I'm happy to know she's okay. I can't wait to actually see her though."

"Why did you stay away for so long? Why couldn't you just come back?"

Riku shook his head, "It wasn't that easy. I wanted to, but I knew if I came back without doing what I needed to do, you'd all see me as failure."

"You know that's not true. You're too hard on yourself, Riku."

He shrugged, "Maybe..." He looked at Kairi directly now, a look of determination in his eyes, "But hey... This isn't over yet. You said Sora was in there, right?"  
Kairi nodded, "Yeah. He and Axel are there right now."

"Okay. Well, I'm here to help. There's no way that jerk is gonna finish this without me." He suddenly had a confident smirk on his face that made Kairi smile. Riku may have had a funny way of showing it, but he seemed to care about Sora, too. "So, where is this place anyway?"

Kairi glanced at Roxas. He'd been quiet the entire time, but he was the only one out of the three that knew the location. Riku looked at Roxas, too. There was a tension in the air. The last and only time the two of them had been in the same room together, they'd had a screaming match and Riku had blamed him for everything that happened to Xion.

"I'm sorry," they said simultaneously.

"Why are you sorry?" Riku said.

"I couldn't protect her. She got hurt because I couldn't keep her safe." Roxas was still extremely guilty about everything with Xion even if he didn't let on about it.

Riku shook his head, "Nah, man. It wasn't your fault. There's nothing you could have done. I shouldn't have tried to pin everything on you." He paused, "To be honest, I was more mad at myself. For years, I've felt like it was_ my_ job to protect her, you know? And the second I let my guard down..."

"Hey!" Kairi stepped up, "Stop it. Both of you. It's not either of your faults. Xion got hurt because of Organization XIII. Sora and Axel are there right now and unless we want a repeat of what happened with her, we need to get moving."

Roxas looked at her curiously, "'We'? Kairi... What about Naminé?"

"Who?" Riku was confused.

"My sister..." Kairi clarified, "She was taken by the Nobodies. The reason Sora went in there in the first place was to help her. Roxas was able to get her back and she's recovering upstairs. I- I almost forgot..." She felt her heart sinking, "I guess I should really just stay here then..."

Riku stepped forward, "Are you okay, Kairi?"

She gave a half-hearted nod, "Yeah... I'm fine." How could she even think this. The choice between Sora and her sister was simple, wasn't it?

"What's wrong?" Roxas looked concerned. So did Riku. Never mind the fact that they needed to go on a dangerous mission to take down a giant criminal organization, they were worried about silly, little Kairi.

"N-nothing. I'm sorry." Kairi looked away from both of them. She was being ridiculous. She couldn't abandon her sister.

Roxas pressed his lips into a thin line as he looked at Kairi. After a short period of silence, he spoke, "I'll stay here with Naminé."

They both looked incredulously at him. Kairi was surprised, but there was a small part of her that was relieved as well, "What?"

Roxas gave a small smile, "It's clear that it's important that you see Sora. It must be hard for you to make the choice between him and your sister, but..." He looked in the general direction they had taken Naminé, "She's in good hands and I'm sure she's gonna be fine. I'll be here when she wakes up and I'll explain everything. I'm sure she'll understand."

"But-"

"Come on, Kairi..." Riku spoke this time. He gave an encouraging smile, "Roxas is right. Your sister is fine. You're not a bad person for being worried about Sora. We all are."

Kairi looked between the two of them. Could she really just leave and find Sora? Her heart seemed to scream "Yes!", but she couldn't shake the fact that it was wrong to leave Naminé. Not to mention the fact that going to find Sora would break the promise she'd made to not go near the compound. "I-I promised Sora that I wouldn't follow him in. He said it was too dangerous."

Riku smirked, "Well, _he_ didn't know that _I_ would be your personal body guard. I'm sure he'll forgive you."

Kairi pondered this for a while. Finally, she looked at the pair of them and nodded, "Okay. I'll do it. I-I just have to make sure that Sora is okay."  
Both of them gave knowing smiles and Riku said, "It's the least you could do for your boyfriend..."

Kairi's cheeks flushe, "Sora's not-"

"Yeah yeah. Roxas, where is this place?" Riku and Kairi directed their attention to Roxas.

Roxas thought about this for a while, "Well, it would take too long and it would be too dangerous to go in the front door, but you could always go in the secret passage I took to get out."

They agreed and Roxas gave them directions to the library. From there they would have to go into the back right corner and pull the book called "Kingdom Hearts". Apparently it was an old book about a seventeenth century love affair in Radiant Garden. Needless to say, people didn't usually check it out.

Behind the book was a switch that would open the staircase and eventually lead them to Roxas's office. From there the passageways were pretty straightforward. Hopefully, they could get in, find Sora and Axel and get out without getting into too much trouble. Roxas called the police station just before they left and informed them of the situation: All prisoners have been extracted, another small team was being deployed to assist the current officers that were inside and they would need backup immediately.

Riku and Kairi made it to the library and followed Roxas's instructions. The back corner of the library was completely empty. Apparently the library stayed open twenty four hours a day because students at Twilight Town University needed constant access to the information. Even so, there was no one in the building besides the librarian and even he looked tired of staring at books.

The secret passage opened and Riku and Kairi made their way down the long passage until they reached another wall. After a little bit of searching they found a switch to open the door into Roxas's office. "Well, I guess we just start looking" Kairi said.

Riku nodded, "This should be fun." He sounded sarcastic, but Kairi didn't really care. She needed to find Sora.

* * *

Sora was wandering the halls of the compound. He hadn't run into any Nobodies since the large room and he was grateful. After what happened, he probably wouldn't have hesitated to seriously hurt someone. Sora wasn't particularly violent person, but in his current state, it was a completely different story.

Sora had no idea where Roxas had gone, so he was left to simply walk in a random direction until he hit a wall. Sora stopped in a hallway with glass walls. It was looking out over a platform below him. He couldn't figure this place out. There were too many winding halls. That's when he heard the sound of rapid footsteps. Bracing himself for whatever was coming he stood with his shotgun at the ready. The footsteps drew closer and suddenly a man in the organization cloak burst into the hallway that Sora was standing in.

He had long, blue hair and a scar on his face that formed an "X" over the bridge of his nose. His golden eyes held an appearance that matched how Sora felt. He was feeling angry, reckless and he really wanted a fight. "You..." he growled, "You're the one..."

Sora smirked deviously, "Look, buddy. We barely know each other and I don't believe in that 'love at first sight' bullshit."

He didn't appear amused, "You were the that Roxas helped. You killed my men..."

Sora's face took on a mixture of guilt and anger, "Well, then, I guess we're even..."

"What do you mean?" he didn't look very confused. He had a very stoney expression that remained pretty unchanged.

"Your men killed my friend, Axel."

He cackled maniacally, "So! Axel was a betrayer as well... It serves him right!"

Sora's blood was boiling, "You think that he _deserved_ it?"

"He was no more than a pawn for Lord Xemnas. He was expendable. And if he did attempted to betray us, then his fate was well deserved, yes..."  
Sora pointed his shotgun at the man, "You're wrong..."

The man laughed again, "Really? You're going to shoot me? Isn't that against the law?"

Sora clenched his teeth in anger, "You've killed people."

"You have no proof."

Sora began to see red, "Then, they'll have no proof of who killed you..."

The man stared at him pointedly, "They'll trace back the kind of bullet used in that gun to you. There are no warrants out for me. So, as far as the police know, you'll have killed an innocent man."

"Who says I need a gun?" Sora dropped Oblivion and closed the distance to the man.

* * *

Riku and Kairi were still wandering the halls of the compound. It seemed desolate and abandoned. They could only wonder what had happened to all the Nobodies. Had Sora and Axel taken care of them already? Did they all leave when they heard that the police were on their way? Kairi's eyes scanned every last inch of the hallway for a sign of Sora, but there were none.

That is, until Kairi saw the slightest bit of movement from the corner of her eye. She quickly turned her head in time to see someone disappear behind a corner behind them. "Riku..." She whispered. He looked towards her questioningly, "Someone just ran around that corner." She pointed in the direction the person had disappeared in.

Riku immediately took off. He wasn't one for subtlety apparently and he rounded the corner that Kairi had indicated. Just as he looked down the hall someone disappeared down another dark corridor. Riku smirked. The chase was on. He bolted down hallways, just barely catching a glimpse of his prey ducking around corners or slipping through doorways. Riku always loved a good chase. His and Kairi's venture into the dreaded Nobodies hideout had been pretty boring so far, so he was relieved to have a bit of action.

Riku rounded yet another corner, but this time the man he'd been following seemed to have hit a dead end. Riku smiled, "Got nowhere else to run!"  
The man was just standing there. He didn't speak. As Riku got closer he could distinguish a couple of key features from the man: He had long, black hair with stripes of gray in it. He had a jagged scar running from his left eye and down to his jaw. Oh, and by the way he had an eye patch over his right eye. That wasn't weird at all. He carried what looked like a sniper rifle that he rested on his shoulder, pointing towards the ceiling.

Kairi caught up and she was breathless. She wasn't used to running so much. "Did we... Get him..?"Well, he has nowhere else to hide, so we can get him now."

Kairi was still gasping for air, "Great..."

They walked side by side as they approached the man. Riku was wary of the sniper that the man had slung over his shoulder, but the man didn't seem to have any intention of using it, "So... You're a member of Organization XIII?" Riku called out to the man.

The man smirked, "You got me..."

Riku's expression suddenly became very serious, "So, tell me... Are you the one who shot Xion?"

The man raised an eyebrow, "'Fraid not. That'll have been Saix. I'm assuming you knew her."

"Yeah... I did. And I still do. She's still alive..." Riku wanted to find this Saix and rip him apart, but he'd amuse himself with this guy for now.

The man chuckled and shook his head, "I knew that Saix didn't get a good enough shot. I'm gonna have to fix his mistake as soon as possible."

Riku clenched his fists in anger, "You're not going anywhere!"

The man just laughed again, "Oh. Of course not. Because there's absolutely no way I could get past you." In one swift motion he brought his sniper at attention and let off a shot. It hit something that was attached the wall near Riku. An explosive... The wall collapsed on top of him.

"Riku!" Kairi rushed forward to help Riku. She knelt down next to him. Only his legs were caught in the debris and he seemed okay. She looked back up only to find the man was gone.

"He got away, didn't he?" Riku asked as he tried to free himself from the pieces of concrete that trapped him. Kairi nodded. "Dammit!" He slammed his fist against the ground, "Quick. Help me out of here. We have to catch him." Kairi nodded again and helped Riku out of the rubble. Riku dusted himself off once he was free and looked back in the direction that the man must have disappeared off to, "I'll be damned if he goes anywhere near Xion. I'm gonna stop him or die trying..."

* * *

**A/N: Hey, guys. This was a bit of a filler chapter. I'm not a huge fan of it, but I really needed to start setting the scene for the final few chapters... That's right. We're almost done! I'd say maybe four more chapters or so and maybe an epilogue. As always, thank you all for your support. I'm grateful that you all have stuck with me this far. I'd specifically like to thank my reviewers. I always look forward to hearing what you have to say. I wouldn't mind having a few more reviews to read. *hint hint* Seriously though, I don't want to ask too much of you guys, but I really do appreciate feedback and I would love it if more of you would share your opinion. It doesn't have to be much. It could be a single word for all I care. ("Good", "Bad", "Ugly") In any case, thank you all for your time and support. See ya!**

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**PS I am so sorry for all that junk that was in the original version of that. I have no idea what happened. I think I fixed it, but I really am sorry about that... Anyway... See ya!**


	13. Chapter 13

_**A/N: Hey, guys. Sorry for the wait. I've been pretty busy and I really wanted to make sure this chapter was good before I uploaded it. I'm still hoping for a few more reviews. If you can, please just write a little something down. I would really appreciate it. Thanks and Enjoy!**_

_Sora tackled the much taller man to the ground. Normally, he might have taken a different approach, but he wasn't thinking clearly. This man, whoever he was, had insulted Axel and while Sora didn't know Axel very well, he knew that Axel was a good person and this man was certainly in no place to pass judgment upon him. So, Sora tackled the blue haired man._

_They hit the ground hard, but before Sora could do much of anything else, the man threw him off. He seemed to be incredibly strong. He had a fire in his eyes that Sora knew meant complete and total rage. Sora landed a few feet away, but immediately stood. The other man was already standing as well. He had smirk on his face that sent a chill up Sora's spine. Sora grit his teeth with frustration, "Who are you?"_

_The man laughed maniacally, "Who am I? You come here... kill my men... attack me and ask who am __I?__I think, my friend, you should really be asking yourself who __you__are... Are you really a righteous man or do you simply get your kicks off killing those that are less skilled than you?"_

_Sora scowled, "I know who I am... My name is Sora Fair and I'm here to save Naminé. I didn't want to kill those people..." His shoulders slumped just slightly, "They left me no choice..."_

_"__Do you even know who this Naminé girl is? Do you know what she's done?!" the man retorted. He still had that look in his eye like at any moment he would go completely berserk._

_"__She's a friend. It doesn't matter what's she done. I always protect my friends..."_

_The man smirked, "Evidently not... Or was Axel not good enough to be your __friend__?"_

_Sora clenched his fists, "Axel __is__my friend... He gave his life to save mine... I'll never be able to repay him for that!" He glared daggers at the man, "I will, however, be able to take __you__down. I'd just like to know what name to put on the headstone..." Sora was feeling very unlike himself, but this man and all of Organization XIII had pushed him to his breaking point._

_The man laughed again, "My name is Saix... And I'm afraid that I'm the last person that you'll ever see." Saix surged forward. _

_He threw a strong right hook right at Sora's head, which Sora dodged just in time to deliver a swift kick to Saix's feet. When facing an opponent who has a clear height advantage, it's best to take it away. Knock him to the ground and the fight should end a lot quicker. Unfortunately, this Saix seemed to know what Sora was trying to do as he jumped back out of range. Then, he quickly sprung forward tackled Sora's torso._

_Sora felt the wind get knocked out of him as they tumbled to the ground. He was still injured from the fight in the giant chamber, so he had to bite back a cry of pain when he hit the ground. Saix quickly had him pinned, but Sora brought his knee up to Saix's stomach causing his grip to loosen. Once his hold faltered, Sora rolled so that he was pinning Saix._

_He held him there while he spoke, "Your name is Saix?" The man beneath him struggled to get free, but Sora had taken his legs into account and Saix had no way of freeing himself. "The same Saix who was Axel's friend? The one who shot Xion?" Sora's anger was building and his voice was getting louder._

_"__That pitiful man was useful, but I wouldn't have ever considered him a friend... As for that bitch, she deserved it," Saix spat._

_Sora punched him across the face, "Axel was not pitiful. He was one of the bravest men I've ever met. Everything he ever did was to help his brother. As for Xion, you missed your mark. She's alive, Saix, and she's gonna outlive you by a long shot."_

_Saix's eyes seemed to turn red with rage. He broke Sora's hold on his arms and slammed his fist into Sora's gut before throwing him off. Sora slammed into the glass walls of the hallway with a grunt. The wall behind him began to crack. Sora attempted to stand, but he felt a sharp pain in his gut: A broken rib... Maybe two... stood only to be kicked in the chest. He was sent flying back into the wall which shattered upon impact. Sora fell through. He quickly gained his senses and managed to grab onto the ledge._

_Saix slowly made his way to Sora before placing his boot on Sora's hand. His voice was deadly calm now, "I'm afraid she won't. In fact, you've made me quite angry... Now, I'm going to take it upon myself to kill everyone you hold dear. And there's absolutely nothing that you can do to stop me..." He stomped down on Sora's hand and Sora cried out in pain. _

_It hurt, but Sora wouldn't let go. Not that easily. Sora swung his other arm up and wrapped it around Saix's ankle, "Shut the hell up, you son of a bitch." Sora pulled Saix's leg out from under him._

_Saix lost his balance and fell through the shattered glass to the platform below. He landed with a thud that reverberated through the room. Sora dropped his gaze to see Saix's unmoving body on the ground. Sora took a deep breath and let himself drop down to the platform. He rolled to soften the fall, but he felt a pain in his ribs nonetheless. He stood slowly and walked over to Saix's still figure. The body shuddered and attempted to lift itself off the ground, but Sora grabbed him by collar and lifted him so that they were facing each other._

_"__Last chance, Saix... I can either end things right now or you can spend a lifetime behind bars contemplating your miserable existence," Sora's voice was cold._

_Saix coughed and blood dripped out of his mouth, "Fuck. You." _

_Sora held Saix there. He could end it. Easily. It would be so quick. He stared into Saix's golden eyes. Saix was a ruthless, cruel and calculating man who cared for no one but himself. He didn't deserve mercy. Sora raised a hand to deliver the finishing blow. And stopped, "You're not worth it..." Sora knocked Saix unconscious before dropping him to the ground. He let out a deep breath that he hadn't even realized he'd been holding, "I'm sorry, Axel..."_

_Sora knew that Saix deserved to die. After all he'd done to people. All he'd been responsible before. Sora should have just ended it, but he couldn't. As much as he hated Saix and all of Organization XIII, he couldn't kill a man who had no way of defending himself. Sora just had to hope that Saix never caused any more problems._

_"__How honorable of you..." Another voice rang out over the chamber and Sora locked onto the source. In the opening that he and Saix had created in the hallway above stood a man. He had black hair with silver stripes, a scar on his left cheek and eye patch over his right eye. He wore the Organization cloak._

_"__Who are you?" Sora asked. Sora's anger was quickly fading, but there was something definitely off about this man that Sora didn't like._

_"__The name's Xigbar..." He paused and stared inquisitively at Sora, "It's all fine and dandy that you spared old Saixy's life, but why'd you do it? He certainly doesn't deserve it." The man had a smirk on his face, but he seemed genuinely curious all the same._

_"__I don't have to explain myself to you..." Sora said in a low, threatening voice. He didn't want to have to deal with anyone else right now._

_Xigbar held up his hands in defense. He was carrying a large sniper rifle in his right hand. The man suddenly got a very serious expression on his face, "Now... Explain to me why I shouldn't just kill you right now?" Sora glanced at the floor where Xigbar was standing and he just knew that Oblivion was lying there, clearly out of reach._

_"__It would be in your best interest to commit as few crimes as possible. The entire Twilight Town Police Force is on their way here and if they find me dead by your hands, you'll be in the electric chair so fast that you won't even be able say, 'Whoops'." Sora reasoned calmly. He didn't find this man nearly as dangerous as Saix. He had a certain nonchalance to him that Sora felt he could reason with._

_Xigbar nodded, "That is a pretty good point..." He seemed to ponder it for a few moments, "However, they'd never know it was me. You see, I've been working this gig for twenty years. I take the job, take the shot and I never get caught. The only one who would know it was me would be you."_

_Sora was about to respond when he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. A flash of crimson. Was it..? No... Not here... Sora decided to take a different tactic, "Well, then go right ahead and kill me. What's stopping you?"_

_Xigbar raised an eyebrow, "That's a bit of change of pace... You got a death wish, kid?"_

_Sora could see her in his periphery. It was definitely her. But how did she get here? Why did she come? "Something like that..."_

_Xigbar opened his mouth to speak, but then he saw her. No he saw them. There were two figures. "You two again? I thought the wall would have done a better job than that."_

_Sora finally looked over to see that there were, in fact, two figures. One of them was a girl with shoulder length red hair. She wore a pink dress that had a unique, zipper design on it. She was staring worriedly at Sora from across the chamber. Next to her stood a tall, silver haired man who was wearing a signature Organization cloak. Kairi and Riku stood about twenty feet away from Sora._

_"__Sora!" Kairi yelled as she began to close the distance. Riku reached out a hand to stop her, but she was too quick._

_"__I guess I'm gonna have to go for a direct hit..." Xigbar readied his rifle. Sora broke off into a sprint towards Kairi. Everything seemed to slow down in those few moments._

_Fifteen feet. Sora saw everything happening at once. Xigbar had his gun pointed directly at Kairi's moving figure. Kairi was unaware as she made her way to Sora. Ten feet. Sora was moving as fast as he could to stop this. The thought suddenly occurred to him that he had a way to stop Xigbar. He reached back as he ran and felt the familiar handle of his revolver. Five feet. He pulled out the gun in time to notice Xigbar about to take the shot. He couldn't stop it from happening, but he could stop the result. Sora pointed Oathkeeper at Xigbar and unloaded just Xigbar pulled the trigger. Zero. _

_Sora pushed Kairi out of the way and Kairi flew to the ground, a look of shock and confusion on her face. Riku stood helpless twenty feet away. Xigbar felt the incoming bullets from Sora's revolver and Sora took the full impact of the sniper. Sora flew off his feet and crashed to the ground. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Xigbar do the same._

_Darkness pulled at the edge of Sora's vision, and he struggled to stay conscious. He'd done it. He'd saved her. He heard hurried steps approach him and felt someone kneel next to him, "Sora! Oh my god, Sora, no..." It was Kairi._

_"__Goddammit, Sora, you idiot!" Riku..._

_Sora let out a light laugh before wincing in pain, "I'm s-sorry..." His vision continued waver, "I couldn't let K-kairi get hurt..."_

_"__Sora... Please... No..." Sora could hear the pain in Kairi's voice as she began to sob. No... Kairi... Please, don't. "__The d-daily things that k-keep us all busy__a__re c-confusing me...__T__hat's when you c-came to me and s-said, __'__Wish I could p-prove I l-love y-__" __And everything went black._


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Hey, guys. It's almost over... We have like one more chapter and then an epilogue. That last chapter was rough. This one should be fun though... Maybe... We'll see. Hey! I've already started brainstorming another story idea. It's KH based. I've got most of it mapped out in my head already, and I'm thinking High School AU. Yes? No? Type up your thoughts in a review! Anyway... Enough from me. Enjoy!**

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"Shit! Fuck! Dammit! Dammit! DAMMIT!" Riku had his hands clamped around the area where Sora had been shot. He tried to slow the bleeding, but he didn't want to press too hard with the bullet still in there. He couldn't take it out without fear of hurting him even more. He was freaking out. He had never paid attention during those stupid seminars where they taught you what to do when you or someone else was shot. "What do we do?"

Kairi was cradling Sora's head and crying, but she seemed to notice Riku's distress as she looked up. Riku had a look of worry and despair on his face that reminded her of something... It had been her first day practicing at a Hospital. Medical Students were allowed to shadow real doctors to learn what to do in certain situations. A man had brought in his brother who had gotten into a bar fight. He looked panicked and worried as all hell, but the doctor Kairi had been shadowing remained calm and handled the situation. Both brothers went home good spirits after that.

It was then that Kairi's training really kicked in. She dried her eyes and looked Riku dead in the eyes. "Move your hands away so I can examine the wound. Also, take off the cloak and tear off as many long strips as you can. We don't have anything to sterilize the wound, so no matter what I do here, we're gonna have to move him to a real facility as soon as possible. Do you understand?"

Riku sat dumbfounded for a few moments. What was she..? How did she..? When? What?

"Do you understand?" Kairi repeated.

Riku finally snapped out of it and nodded his head quickly, "Yeah. Got it. Uh... Great." He immediately removed his hands from the wound and stripped his jacket. Meanwhile Kairi inspected the wound for depth and placement. Sora had been shot just below the chest. That meant that there could be damage to the diaphragm or the lower part of his lung, but the bullet didn't seem to deeply penetrate. The angle that it had entered ensured it had to pass through more of the outer tissue before entering the body. It hadn't even made it much more a few millimeters in.

Riku was tearing apart the borrowed cloak. He'd taken it off one of the thugs that he'd found wandering the streets. He'd seemed harmless enough with his guitar, but Riku still held a lot of resentment, so he smashed the guitar, took the guy into custody and stole his cloak. You know... Just 'cause. He'd gone to the hospital and met up with Kairi and Roxas right after that.

He thought he had a sufficient amount of strips when Kairi began to speak, "Alright. Now, normally a more skilled surgeon than myself would remove this, but we don't have a lot of time and the sooner we take this thing out the better. Do you have a knife?"

Riku nodded, "Yeah..." He reached down to his waist and took out his prized 12 inch Bowie Knife. He'd affectionately named it 'Soul Eater'. It had a six inch blade that he sharpened just about every night. Why? Made him feel like a badass.

Kairi gave him a horrified expression, "Don't you have anything smaller..?" Riku opened his mouth to answer, but Kairi just waved her hands to signal that there was no need, "Fine. Whatever. Just give it to me. I'll just have to make do, I suppose. Is it clean?"

Riku scoffed as he handed it over, "Of course it is. Do you really think that I'd-"

"Not important right now." Kairi was already getting to work on the bullet.

Riku's shoulders slumped, "Right..."

Kairi inserted the tip of the blade into the wound and Sora's entire body jerked as if rejecting it, "Hold him down. If he moves too much this will be a hell of a lot worse." Riku nodded and did as he was told. Normally, he didn't listen to anyone about anything... Well, except for Xion... But Riku knew that Kairi knew what she doing, so he figured it was best not to question her.

Kairi dug the blade just deep enough so she could work it in behind the bullet and then she just gently lifted to slide it out. Meanwhile, Sora's body kept convulsing as Riku struggled to keep his friend pinned. He'd never imagined Soul Eater's first victim would be Sora. Okay. He had imagined it, but he'd never, ever intended for it to actually happen. And certainly not like this.

Thankfully, the bullet appeared to be in one piece. That meant that Kairi didn't have to dig around inside of Sora to find other, smaller pieces and they could just wrap up the wound until a real professional took a look at it. "The cloth strips, please." Together, Kairi and Riku tightly wrapped the makeshift guaze around Sora's lower chest and upper midsection to assist in stopping the bleeding.

When everything appeared to be done, Kairi finally collapsed. She hoped she never had to be the one to operate on Sora again. Hopefully, he would never have to be operated on after this, but still... She sighed in relief. She felt more confident that Sora would be okay, but she was still a little worried. What if they hadn't been quick enough? What if Kairi had missed some pieces of the bullet? What if the wound got infected and none of this even made a difference?

"Hey..." Kairi looked up at Riku who smile sympathetically, "You did great. Thanks to you, he's probably gonna be fine."

Kairi smiled slightly, "Thank you." She was happy he'd said it, but she still worried.

After a few seconds, Riku stood. Kairi looked at him questioningly. He just gave her a serious look, "I'm going after their boss. The guy whose responsible for all of this. And I'm taking him down..."

Kairi would have protested and said something about it being too dangerous, but she knew that Riku would never listen. Especially after Sora got hurt. So, she just nodded and gave him a brave smile, "Hit him extra hard for me, okay?"

Riku smiled and nodded back, "You got it." And at that he left. He disappeared back into the compound in search of the leader of it all. And he was gonna finish things once and for all.

* * *

Roxas was still sitting in the waiting area for word on Naminé. He'd long since abandoned his cloak. He no longer had to wear it with everything that was happening. He'd promised Kairi that he'd inform her the moment Naminé woke up, but it was taking longer than expected. He found himself wondering how everyone was doing. Were Axel and Sora okay? Did the rest of the force get there yet? Was it a good idea to let Kairi go? What if Riku freaked out again and went berserk on everyone?

"Mr. Strife?" A voice called from across the room.

Roxas immediately looked up at a nurse who was looking around for who Roxas suspected was him. He stood, "Yes?"

She met his eyes and smiled, "She's awake."

It took Roxas a second to process the words, but as soon as she he did, he smiled widely, "That's awesome!" The nurse just continued to smile sweetly at him, "Um... Do you think I could see her?"

She frowned slightly, "Well... We're not really supposed to let non-family members go in at this time of night."

Roxas's shoulders slumped, "Oh..."

"But I suppose we could make an exception this time." The nurse smiled sympathetically, and Roxas grinned again.

"Thank you..." She nodded and indicated that he follow her.

She led him to a small room where Naminé was lying fully clothed on the bed. She had a little meal on a tray on her lap: A sandwich, chips, a water and some pudding. Pudding... She looked up at the entrance and smiled sweetly. Roxas just about melted at the sight. She didn't appear to notice Roxas's mouth gaping and spoke with a soft voice, "I was told that you were the one that brought me in."

Roxas simply nodded. He was struck dumb by her. She was beautiful... He'd seen her back in the compound, but she'd seemed so empty. So close to death. She'd still been beautiful then, but now... With her body so full of life, she was radiant.

She giggled and Roxas nearly fainted, "Well, in that case, thank you." Roxas just nodded again, "Do you want my pudding?"

Roxas suddenly snapped out of his thoughts at the mention of the delicious treat, "W-what?"

Naminé looked amused, "My pudding. I don't want it. You can have it, if you want. It's the least I could do since you saved me."

Roxas shook his head, "I-I didn't save you... You were hurt. You needed help. I couldn't just leave you there." He eyed the pudding for a few seconds. Mmm... Pudding. He picked it up, "And yes. Thank you. I'll take it." She laughed again and Roxas smiled. He couldn't help but wonder though, "Why were you there?"

Naminé's face suddenly fell, "Oh... I, uh..."

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to..." Roxas didn't want overstep any boundaries.

"No. No... It's fine. I should tell someone, right?" She smiled and then sighed, "Well...

* * *

It didn't take as long as expected for Riku to find the double doors that would inevitably lead to the leader of Organization XIII and the Nobodies. He'd been waiting for this moment. He gripped his shotgun tightly. He'd been keeping it on his back up until this point because he wasn't sure if it would be necessary, but now there was no question. This guy had to go down.

Way to the Dawn was a pump action, eight shot gun. He could unload them very quickly if he needed to. And he planned to. He wasn't going to give this guy a second to explain himself. He didn't deserve it. Riku took a deep breath and shoved open the doors and pointed the gun directly at the desk on the other side of the room. There was just one problem: It was empty.

"What the-" The door slammed shut behind Riku and as he spun to face the culprit he felt someone jab at his right arm. His hand fell away from the gun and before he could react, the entire gun slipped from his fingers. And there, standing between him and the exit, pointing the shotgun at Riku, was Xemnas, leader of Organization XIII.

Xemnas had long gray hair and golden eyes. He wore the Organization cloak and his expression was completely vacant of emotion. "Nice of you to join me, Mr. Masamune. Take a seat," He spoke calmly and clearly.

"Why should I?" Riku scowled defiantly.

"You could take a seat and we could talk this out, or I could blow your head clean off right now..." Xemnas shrugged indifferently, "Your choice."

"We have nothing to talk about..." Riku clenched his fists in anger. He couldn't believe that Xemnas had handled him so easily just now.

"Oh. I think we do. Just take a seat and I can remove this wretched thing from your chin." To make a point he nudges Riku's chin up just slightly with the nose of the gun.

Riku gritted his teeth. "Fine," he spat.

"Great..." He nodded his head toward the chair near his desk and pulled the gun away just enough so Riku could walk. Riku reluctantly sat in the chair while Xemnas made his way to the other side of the desk where he sat in a tall, revolving that stood in front of an extravagant fireplace. He placed the shotgun at his feet, out of reach for Riku, and spun his chair so he could see the flames in the fireplace more clearly, "Amazing, isn't it? You know, it connects directly to the chimney that runs to the roof. Xigbar used to tell me all the time to stop lighting it to avoid attracting people here, but I never listened."

"What do you want, Xemnas?" Riku was very impatient. He didn't want to talk. He wanted to punch this guy's face in.

"Now, now, Riku... Let's try and relax, shall we?" Xemnas's face was still unfeeling.

Riku slammed his hands on the table, "Is this some kind of joke to you?!"

Xemnas shrugged, "If it is, then I guess this would be the punchline." At that, he decked Riku right in the face and sent him tumbling to the ground. "Now, if you don't mind. I'd like to have a conversation like two adults." Riku flew to his feet and was about to tackle Xemnas, but he already had Way to the Dawn pointed at Riku again. "Now, sit."

Riku growled, but obliged yet again, "Just tell me what you want to talk about so badly."

Xemnas didn't put the gun down this time, "I'd like to discuss a business negotiation."

Riku's eyes widened in shock, "A _what?_"

"A partnership, if you will," Xemnas reasoned nonchalantly.

Riku shook his head incredulously, "Why in the hell would I want to be partners with you?"

"Well, for one, I could ensure your protection. You wouldn't have to worry about any of my or anyone else's men being at your doorstep after this. I would disband the Organization and the Nobodies. No more problems for you and your department either." He paused and looked at Riku very seriously, "Also, I could use my resources to get that girlfriend of yours new legs."

Riku's jaw dropped, "How did you-"

"I knew she wasn't dead, Riku. I have tabs everywhere. It was just in my best interest to keep it to myself for the time being." Xemnas paused before going on, "As for me, I would, of course, be allowed to go free. I have enough money now to live comfortably for the rest of my life without worry. Naturally, as part of our partnership, you would inform of when the police were nearing my current location and I would relocate." He sighed, "You see, all I want is to have a chance to truly enjoy life. My life has been so empty until this point. I've felt as if I lacked a heart entirely for most of my existence." He looked Riku dead in the eyes, "Can you really deny me this chance?"

Riku sat there thinking about this offer. It was once in a lifetime. There weren't very many downsides. Xion would be able to walk... He'd snuck in to see her one night and he'd asked one of the nurses how she was doing. He'd informed Riku that Xion would never walk again. Riku felt awful, but now he could fix it. He looked back at Xemnas who looked at him questioningly, "You have my attention."

Xemnas smirked and laid the gun down on his desk, "Fantastic... I'm glad to see you have some sense."

Riku scowled, "I still don't like you, asshole, but I can't pass up the opportunity of having Xion walk again."

Xemnas nodded, "As I thought. So, what do you say..?" He reached out his hand, "Do we have a deal?"

Riku reached out his hand. Xion would be able to walk. They'd still accomplish the end of the Nobodies. He'd never have to see Xemnas again. Riku smirked, "There's no way in hell I'd ever strike a deal with the devil..." He wrapped his fingers around Way to the Dawn, cocked it and launched a shell straight through Xemnas's skull. "Sayonara, bitch."


	15. Chapter 15

"You just shot him? You could have at least tricked him into prison time and gotten something good out of the deal... What the hell, man?" Sora was staring mouth agape at Riku who had just finished telling the trying tale of his fight with Xemnas. Sora was having trouble believing that Xemnas had been using two red, laser swords and that Riku had to defeat a giant, robotic, dragon thing before finishing Xemnas off, but he decided to let Riku have his moment.

"I did it for you, stupid..." Riku laughed, "There was no way I was gonna let him walk out alive after he was responsible for so much shit."

Sora sighed, "Yeah... I guess." He looked over Riku's shoulder, "Hey. Can you grab the remote for me. I hate this show."

"Get it yourself..." Riku scoffed.

Sora raised an eyebrow, "Uh... I'm kind of in a hospital bed." Riku rolled his eyes, "I was instructed not to move so much." Riku shrugged, "I was shot in the chest..." Riku just smirked at him, "Any of this ringing a bell?" The sound of Sora's heart monitor continously beeping in the background and the white walls of the hospital room made Sora's current environment very monotonous. He at least wanted to watch something interesting on TV.

"Suck it up..." Riku chuckled.

"Nurse! This man is bad for my health. I need him removed immediately!" Sora yelled to a Nurse who happened to be passing by.

He stopped and looked at Sora and then at Riku. He shook his head and sighed, "Sir. I'm gonna have to ask that you leave the room."

Riku was taken aback, "Wha- But I..." He shifted his attention to Sora, "Come on..." He begged. Sora just turned away dramatically. Riku growled, "Fine..." And left.

Sora smirked, "Thank you." The nurse nodded, "Oh... And could you grab that remote for me..?"

The nurse turned back to Sora and gave a mischievous smile, "I'm sorry, but I have other patients. Goodbye!"

Sora was shocked, "Wait, but-" He was already gone, "Dammit!" Sora leaned back in the bed and pouted. He placed a pillow over his face in defiance.

"Aw... Poor baby," A muffled voice could be heard through the pillow.

"Shut up, Riku..."

"Uh... Sora?"

Sora removed the pillow to see the amused face of Kairi. He snapped to attention, "Oh... Hey, Kairi."

She smiled, "How you feeling?"

Sora shrugged, "Meh... You'd think getting shot in the chest would really suck, but once you get past the unbearable pain, it's not so bad... I just wish that I didn't have to sit in this room day in and day out."

"Well, what if someone sat in here with you?" Kairi suggested.

"Well, my mom is great and all, but all she ever talks about is how I need to be more careful, and how proud my dad would be... Then, she starts to cry and-" He sighed tiredly.

"Okay... So... What if someone else sat with you?" Kairi hinted.

"Well, Riku is busy tracking down the final members of the Organization... Roxas is busy either spending time with Naminé or looking after Lea... Xion only ever wants to gloat about her awesome, new wheelchair... God. I wish I could have broken my legs or something... Professor X wheelchair, Kairi!"

Kairi rolled her eyes and swatted Sora over the head, "I meant me, stupid..."

Sora looked up at her quizzically, "What about your shifts at the bar?"

Kairi shrugged, "I was just doing that to help pay the bills. Actually, after we brought you in and the doctors saw how well I handled you when you got hurt, they offered me a paid, summer internship. I won't be a real doctor, but I'll gain credits toward my school and I might even be able to graduate a little early." She smiled at the thought. "Anyway, since I'll be spending a lot of time here anyway, I can hangout with you in my down time. And since I'm not allowed to handle other patients yet, I'll have quite a bit of downtime to waste."

Sora tried to get too excited, "That's awesome! We can hangout all the time!" He was kind of successful...

Kairi giggled and Sora's chest fluttered a little, "Yeah... Something like that."

They sat in silence for a little while after that. It was a comfortable silence, but there was something else. Something both of them wanted to say, but neither knew how to say it. Sora cleared his throat and Kairi looked at him expectantly, "Hey, uh... Kairi?"

She smiled slightly, "Yeah?"

Sora smiled too, "Do you, uh, remember that night that I took you to that fancy restaurant?"

She nodded, "Of course... That was the night that we'd heard Xion was in the hospital."

Sora nodded in return, "Yeah... Well, I, uh... I wanted to tell you something that night and I never really got the chance."

"Okay..." Kairi urged. Oh my god oh my god oh my god...

"I, um... I wanted to tell you about my mom..."

"Oh..." Kairi deflated a little. That was it?

Sora noticed this and smiled, "Yeah. I wanted to tell you that my mom always knew how dangerous my dad's job was, but it still surprised her... You know... When he-"

Kairi nodded, "Yeah. I know."

"Well, she's always worried about me, and... I feel bad because I don't want her or anyone to have to worry about me all the time... I don't want people to lose sleep because of me... And I definitely don't want to hurt anyone if something goes wrong..."

Kairi remembered a conversation that they'd had once. It had been about how they each had to deal with death. "You're worried about how it would affect me if you died..." Kairi realized.

Sora looked up a little surprised, but he nodded, "Yeah..."

Kairi smiled comfortingly, "Sora... I told you... Death is hard on everyone... But the world keeps on spinning and I'll keep on living." Sora nodded, but Kairi could tell he didn't really believe her. "You know... When you got shot, there were a few moments when I thought you were gone. Forever... And it hit me. Really hard. I broke down right there in front of you. The only reason you made it out alive is because the rest of the police department arrived and helped me transport you here. Still... For a while, I didn't know if you were alive or dead. And it was scary. Terrifying, really... But you know what?"

Sora looked at her, "What..?"

Kairi smiled, "I knew everything was gonna be okay... I didn't know for sure if you were gonna make it out alive, but I knew no matter what happened... That I would be okay. Maybe not right away, but eventually... Everything would be fine."

Sora smiled, "Thanks..." Then, his face fell again and it looked he was struggling with a thought, "But... What if, you know... What if I wasn't just your friend? With my mom and dad, it must have hit my mom really hard because of how they felt about each other..."

Kairi stared at him for a few moments and pondered his words. Then, she nodded to herself as if finally coming to a conclusion, "Well... Who says that I don't feel that way about you?"

Sora looked up in surprise. Kairi had a slight blush on her face, probably a result of her own words, but she looked dead serious. "What-What are you-"

Kairi began to move in close, "Sora... I like, no... I _love_ you... I don't know when it happened, but you completely turned my world around. A few weeks ago, I was just a med student who sang at her parents' bar in her free time. Now... Now, I have a group of friends that I never thought I would. I have people who would face unrivaled danger just to protect me or those I love. I have a life that could take me anywhere I want to go. And it's all because of you... You make me stronger. You make me confident. I almost broke down in that chamber when you got hurt, but I remained strong for you... I love you, Sora."

Kairi was sitting really close to Sora now, but Sora could only focus on one thing, "You-you love me?" Kairi blushed again, but she nodded. Sora's face broke out into a smile, then he started to laugh and then he was laughing so hard that it hurt. He had tears in his eyes because he was laughing so hard.

Kairi looked a little hurt, "Why are you laughing?"

Sora smiled up at her, "Because I love you, too." He laughed, "I can't believe how stupid I was... I was so worried about how you would feel and what would happen if I died, but I never even paid attention to how I really feel. Because you're right. It doesn't matter what the future holds for us. No matter what happens... Everything is gonna be okay. Because I love you and that's all the matters..." Sora closed the distance between them and planted his lips on hers.

The kiss wasn't terribly long, but it was amazing. Her lips were so soft and his were so gentle. They were locked together in a state of bliss that neither had ever felt before. It was perfect. When they broke apart they stared each other in amazement for a moment before they both started laughing. Blushes were apparent on their faces, but they didn't care. They were with the one they loved and-

"Finally! Jesus Christ, you guys took forever!" Both turned to door to see everyone there. Riku, Roxas, Naminé and even Xion was sitting in her little wheelchair, which Kairi had to admit _was_ pretty cool. Sora chucked his pillow at the source of the voice, Riku. Riku dodged it effortlessly as he laughed. Sora and Kairi couldn't but laugh along and soon they were all smiling and talking. Naminé and Xion were crowding Kairi and asking her all kinds of questions and the guys were exchanging well deserved fist bumps, high fives and other forms of props.

When everything calmed down the nurses rushed everyone out of the room. It probably wasn't a good thing having so many people in such a tiny room, so they understood. Kairi stayed though. She didn't have to leave anymore. She looked at Sora and smiled.

He smiled back, "What?"

She just giggled, "Nothing..."

Sora raised an eyebrow, "What..?"

"Nothing!"

"Nothing?"

"Nothing..."

"So, you looked at me, smiled and that means... Nothing..?"

Kairi smirked, "Okay... Maybe something." She pecked him on the lips and Sora smiled.

"Fair enough."

* * *

**A/N: Well... That's it... That's all I got. I'd like to thank my reviewers. You guys are awesome, and I really appreciate all the feedback that you've delivered. This story was a lot of fun and I'm glad I did it. I'm gonna be writing another story... I'm thinking of calling it "Rising and Setting". It'll be a High School AU and you guys should check it out when I upload. Stay tuned for the epilogue! And thanks again!**


	16. Epilogue

"They let me leave the hospital after a week or so because your mom took such good care of me. Even though I wasn't at the hospital anymore, she visited me every single day to check on me and make sure I was doing okay. She and I spent a lot of time together in those last few weeks of summer."

"Then, what happened?" A little boy sat upright in his bunk. He and his twin brother were listening intently to the story of their father's life in the police force. The boy that spoke had dark brown hair that hung loosely around his face and spiked up in the back. He also had bright, blue eyes that made him almost identical to his grandfather and namesake, Zack Fair.

Sora chuckled, "Well, when the fall came back around, your mother had to return to medical school. Because of her work at the hospital over the summer she graduated in the top of her class that spring. She immediately got a job at the Twilight Town Hospital, so she was gonna have to move there. We were both pretty sad, but I had a plan...

"On the day your mother was leaving, I quit my job and surprised her by telling her I'd be moving to Twilight Town, too. I'd gotten tired of the police life. I loved helping people, but after everything, I just knew it was too dangerous a lifestyle. So, instead, as you know, I became a writer. I always loved hearing and telling stories and this way I could do it and help people at the same time. A writer helps people by inspiring them and teaching them important life lessons from their stories. And that's just what I did."

"Aw, but dad... Being a cop was so cool! How could you just quit like that?" The second boy moaned from the top bunk. He had his mother's auburn colored hair and his father's spiky style. He had his mother's violet eyes, but his father's exuberant attitude that he'd had as a child.

"Now, Axel... Being a police officer was definitely very cool, but it was also dangerous. If I'd stayed a police officer, who knows what would have happened?" He made his voice ominous and foreboding, "You and your brother may have never been born..." The look of fear and worry on his sons faces made him crack a smile, "I'm just kidding!" They both let out a sigh of relief, "But honestly, I didn't want to take the chance of getting myself hurt anymore."

The boys sighed in unison, "Okay..."

Sora smiled kindly at them, "But hey... Being a writer is pretty cool, too. You get to create entire worlds and characters to tell fantastic stories. You can write about whatever you want and anything can happen! It's exciting _and _safe."

They perked up a little at this, "Cool!"

Sora chuckled, "Well, that's all for tonight... I'll tell you more of the story tomorrow, okay?"

The slouched "But dad..." They whined.

"Boys... Listen to your father." The voice came from their mother who stood in the doorway. She looked at them fondly, but sternly, "It's time for bed, you two. You have your first day of kindergarten tomorrow."

They perked up at the mention of kindergarten, "Oh, yeah! I almost forgot!" Zack squeaked.

"It's gonna be super awesome!" chirped Axel.

Kairi smiled kindly, "It sure is..." She looked at Sora, "You wanna sing to them, or should I?"

Sora shrugged, "Why don't we both do it?"

Kairi nodded, "Okay." She smiled at her husband as he grabbed his guitar from the corner of the room where it rested most of the time.

He brought it over before playing the familiar tune. Sora began,

"When you walk away  
You don't hear me say,  
'Please, oh baby, don't go.'  
Simple and clean is the way that you're making me feel tonight  
It's hard to let it go."

Kairi picked it up where he left off,

"Hold me  
Whatever lies beyond this morning  
Is a little later on  
Regardless of warnings the future doesn't scare me at all  
Nothing's like before."

They sang the rest in unison,

"When you walk away  
You don't hear me say,  
'Please, oh baby, don't go.'  
Simple and clean is the way that you're making me feel tonight  
It's hard to let it go.

Hold me  
Whatever lies beyond this morning  
Is a little later on  
Regardless of warnings the future doesn't scare me at all  
Nothing's like before."

The soft melody lulled the boys to sleep as it always did. Sora and Kairi smiled at their boys gently before walking hand in hand out of the room to their own bedroom. Sora placed the guitar in the corner on their way out and opened the bedroom door for Kairi before closing it behind himself. They changed into their pajamas and climbed into bed together. Sora put his arms around Kairi and she snuggled up close to him.

"I'm surprised they actually went to sleep that easily. Especially with how excited they were for school tomorrow," Kairi observed.

Sora just shook his head incredulously, "Their gonna be in school tomorrow..."

Kairi understood his tone, "I know... Can you believe how quickly time has passed?"

Sora just chuckled, "Not at all... I still remember the day we met..." Kairi smiled at him, "You know what the weird thing is?"

Kairi tilted her head inquisitively, "What's that?"

"That song... 'Simple and Clean'. You were the first person I'd ever met that knew the song besides myself. I never got around to asking you about it." Sora looked deeply at Kairi. "You said that you'd always known it. Well, I didn't say it at the time, but so did I."

Kairi pursed her lips, "Well, that _is_ odd. I never really gave much thought to how I'd learned it because it just seemed like this little thing that I'd always known, you know?"

Sora nodded, "It's the same with me. I had no idea how I knew it, but I didn't really have a way to figure it out either."

Kairi nodded, "Well, I mean there's gotta be some simple explanation that we're missing. Maybe we both got lost as children and happened to hear the song somewhere... Or our parents lied to us and they actually used to play the song for us all the time, but when we asked they denied it."

Sora thought about this for a while, "Well, maybe something like that is true... But maybe it's not as simple as that. When you think about it, nothing about our relationship in the beginning was simple. So, why would the thing that would eventually draw us together be?"

Kairi nodded slightly, "I guess..." She smiled, "A not so simple love story... I like it."

Sora smiled and kissed his wife, "I do, too." They lay like that until they fell asleep in each other's arms. Things may not have been simple, but who needs simple when you have what they do: Perfection.

* * *

**A/N: Well, guys... That's it for "Not So Simple". I know this epilogue was short, but I hope it was satisfying... I'd like to thank all of you for your support. I'd especially like to thank my reviewers. Your feedback was extremely helpful and I really, really appreciate it. I'm not gonna have a lot of time in the next few weeks especially with school coming back around, but I'll definitely try and write that High School AU. Thanks again, guys. It's been fun.**

**digimichael96**

**aka**

**Michael**


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